Rosendahl Decries Court's Decision Not to Allow Gay Marriage During Prop. 8 Appeal

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a blow to gay rights activists Wednesday, when it ruled that it would not allow gay marriages to resume in California while it continues deliberating on whether Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

After the decision, openly gay Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents Playa del Rey and Del Rey, told Patch, “I’m stunned, upset, disappointed and angry. Once again gay people are being treated as second-class citizens. We still don’t have our basic civil and human rights. We pay our taxes and we serve in the military. I was drafted in the Vietnam War and served honorably, and we’re still fighting to be recognized.”

Rosendahl, who lives in Mar Vista, also said he believed that affording gay people equal rights shouldn’t be determined on a state by state basis. It should be a national issue.

“I’m not just disappointed with the courts,” he said. “I’m disappointed with the Washington scene. We need a national law for all gay people.”

He believes that President Barack Obama is slowly moving in the right direction with his repeal of the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy in the military, but added that there’s still a long way to go.

“At least Fred Karger  [the openly gay Republican who plans to run in the 2012 presidential election] is hoping to stir things up in Washington too,” Rosendahl added.

“Being an openly gay man with a partner for 16 years,  [this whole issue] is just a crime,” he said. “I’m fed up and I’m running out of patience. I’ve had the privilege to officiate at five gay marriages when [such marriages were legal in California].”

Rosendahl took part in the first gay marriage ceremony in Southern California, on the steps of the Beverly Hills Courthouse on June 16, 2008. He held one of the chuppah poles when Robin Tyler and Diane Olsen exchanged vows in a Jewish ceremony.

Although he was upset with the court’s decision Wednesday, Rosendahl said it sadly did not come as a surprise. “I was hoping [the court] would do the right thing but it was just another delay tactic,” he said. “But this doesn’t mean we’re going to give up. We’re going to stay focused and I am going to fight for our rights with every breath I have for the rest of my life if I have to.”

He said he hopes he sees change in his lifetime. “At least they don’t stone us to death as they do in some countries,” he noted. “And we’ve certainly come a long way from when I was a kid. I’m 65 now and I remember having to sneak out a book from the library on homosexuality and hide it under my sweater and go home and read it in the attic.”