Resources > Trial Testimony
The January 2010 Federal District Court trial of California’s Proposition 8 was America’s truth commission on marriage equality. For the first time, a federal court heard testimony on marriage for gay and lesbian couples. It’s easy to appeal to people’s fears and prejudices in campaign literature and 30-second television ads. But when you come into court and swear under oath, the lies melt away and the truth comes out.
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
Watercolors by Vicki Ellen Beheringer
Witnesses
Day 1, January 11
- Jeff Zarrillo, AFER plaintiff
- Paul Katami, AFER plaintiff
- Kris Perry, AFER plaintiff
- Sandy Stier, AFER plaintiff
- Nancy Cott, professor of history at Harvard University
Day 2, January 12
- Nancy Cott (continued)
- George Chauncey, professor of history at Yale University
Day 3, January 13
- George Chauncey (continued)
- Letitia Anne Peplau, professor of psychology at UCLA
Day 4, January 14
- Egan Edmund, chief economist for the City and County of San Francisco
- Ilan Meyer, professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University
Day 5, January 15
- Helen Zia, award-winning writer
- Michael Lamb, professor and head of the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology at the University of Cambridge, England
Day 6 , January 19
- Hon. Jerry Sanders, Mayor of San Diego
- M.V. Lee Badgett, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Day 7, January 20
- Ryan Kendall, “ex-gay” survivor
- Gary Segura, professor of political science at Stanford University
Day 8, January 21
- Gary Segura (continued)
- Hak-Shing William Tam, official proponent of Proposition 8, adverse witness
Day 9, January 22
- Gregory M. Herek, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis
Day 10, January 25
- Kenneth Miller, professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College
Day 11, January 26
- Kenneth Miller (continued)
- David Blankenhorn, founder and president of the Institute for American Values
Day 12, January 27
- David Blankenhorn (continued)
