The Arcus Foundation Applauds Ruling on California's Proposition 8 by U.S. Court of Appeals

February 7, 2012
NEW YORK, NY (February 7, 2011) — The Arcus Foundation, a leading global foundation advancing pressing social justice and conservation issues, announced its support of today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upholding a Federal District Court ruling that found California’s Proposition 8 unconstitutional.  Proposition 8 was a ballot initiative passed in 2008 to amend the California Constitution and recognize marriages only between opposite-sex couples.
“Today’s decision affirms that the human rights that belong to us all by birthright and under the rule of law must never be trumped by the personal, political, cultural or religious preferences of an electoral majority,” said Arcus’ CEO, Dr. Yvette C. Burton. “The appellate court’s ruling is not only humane. It is just, and it is on the right side of history as leaders and people around the globe increasingly recognize that the freedom to marry and to define one’s family is fundamental.”
ABOUT THE ARCUS FOUNDATION

The Arcus Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation that supports organizations around the world working to advance equality across the spectrum of sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI) as well as conservation of the world’s great apes. The Foundation works globally and has offices in Kalamazoo, MI, New York City and Cambridge, UK.