This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

When I think about California's Proposition 8, I think about my family, friends and co-workers, and the people I serve and those who serve me.

And I think about the bitter antipathy of the voters who passed Prop 8 in 2008, leaving so many of us with the equally bitter taste of bigotry made law.

Now a federal judge has found Prop 8 unconstitutional in that state and the United States. He has validated the reasoning of the four plaintiffs, two women who wish to be legally married, and two men who want the same.

And for me, and so many of my loved ones, it is a huge step toward justice in one of the most important civil rights movements of our time.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker found that Prop 8 failed to "advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license" and did nothing more than "enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples."

On the federal front, Walker found that the proposition puts gays and lesbians at a disadvantage without rational justification, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

(Last month, a Massachusetts judge found the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional on the same grounds.)

The case is bound for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court. And for now, gays and lesbians who wish to marry in California cannot join the 18,000 people who were legally wed before Prop 8 passed.

That's right off the table in most states, including Utah, where voters approved a defense-of-marriage amendment to the state constitution in 2004. The LDS Church, among others, played a huge role in Prop 8; its Utah members spent about $2.6 million to ensure its passage.

But a source tells me that church leadership may be easing away from such obvious political involvement. When Argentina opened its laws to same-sex marriage, LDS Church leaders there were all but missing from the public debate.

But while policies and politics are at the forefront now, the LGBT community is way ahead of the curve — and so are our young people.

In the spring of 2004, I was there when two lovely young women pledged themselves to one another in Memory Grove. My brother Bill has been with Steve as long as my husband Bill and I have — 28 years and counting.

A dear friend who legally married his partner in San Francisco lost him a year or so ago. My friend still wears his wedding band, as any widower would. He also proudly sports his San Francisco Opera ball cap — they did love the opera.

And maybe most importantly, the young don't see much to get excited about when it comes to gay marriage. For them, any opposition is a tiresome and outdated fear of "the other."

We all need to look at our friends and families. Who among your brothers and sisters, your children, would you deny the protection and joy of marriage?

Peg McEntee is a columnist. Reach her at pegmcentee@sltrib.com.