With marriage equality on hold in CA, what are the next steps?

To ensure that everyone is up to date:
(I am not a lawyer, and a fair amount of my summary may be opinion rather than fact. Any faults are my own, and the summary and opinions expressed in this post are not the official opinions of Affirmation.)

Early this month, Federal Judge Vaughn Walker struck down Proposition 8, California’s 2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Judge Walker then immediately placed a temporary stay on his ruling, which has been extended by the Ninth Circuit Court until it can hear testimony, probably in November or December of this year. The Ninth Circuit will first determine whether the defendants-intervenors have the legal standing to defend Prop 8. (Judge Walker believes that they do not.) If the Ninth Circuit rules that the defendants-intervenors do not have standing, the case will almost certainly be dismissed, and Judge Walker’s ruling will stand. If the Court rules that they do have standing, (1) the Court’s ruling in the case will affect all states in their jursidiction, and it will almost certainly be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Unlike the Ninth Circuit, the Supreme Court is not obligated to hear the case, though I suspect they will. I also suspect all courts will hear and rule on the case as quickly as possible, but it is my very non-legal opinion that the Supreme Court will not render a verdict before late 2012; I expect it more around 2015.

So, what’s next? I heard from friends and on the local news that one couple was married between Judge Walker’s ruling and his stay, but I can’t find the source for that. One Utah couple has decided to marry this Thanksgiving in D.C rather than wait for the ruling in CA. (I understand that the court case to defeat the amendment in Maine is well under way, but I’m woefully under-informed about it. It probably also warrants its own post, too.)

My boyfriend and I talked it over while the case was in Judge Walker’s court, and in the early days of the stay. We decided that will move forward with plans to marry here in California by setting a wedding date after the courts have finished their rulings. We hope that ruling comes early next year and doesn’t get another stay from the Ninth Circuit or the Supreme Court, and we can up and marry in our native state already, but we’re not exactly holding our breath. It’s also tempting to go somewhere it is legal, but we believe that we deserve the same rights as any couple, and we think we deserve them where we live. We’re also just one couple among the hundreds or thousands in California waiting for the right to marry to be restored, and I really have no idea where our plan fits among the plans of those other couples.

What would you do?