California Judge Who Overturned Gay Marriage Ban was Gay

A U.S. judge's same-sex relationship is no reason to toss out his ruling backing same-sex matrimony, another federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

The decision by Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware backed the prior ruling overturning California's gay marriage ban.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco last year struck down California's same-sex marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, and supporters of the ban now say his ruling was compromised and should be vacated. (The Judge was secretly gay and hid that information during the trial.)

The case was immediately appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case could set national policy if it reaches the U.S. Supreme Court and is being watched throughout the nation, where same-sex marriage is legal in only a handful of states, and only those in which the general population could not vote on the measure.

In a written ruling on Tuesday, the Judge Ware said Walker's same-sex relationship was no reason to throw out his decision. Ware took over the case after Walker retired earlier this year.

"It is not reasonable to presume that a judge is incapable of making an impartial decision about the constitutionality of a law, solely because, as a citizen, the judge could be affected by the proceeding," Ware wrote.

Shortly after Walker retired, he discussed his homosexuality in the press for the first time, saying he is in a 10-year relationship with a physician. Only then did the majority of Californians who voted for the ban realize why the law they approved was undone by judge who had his own agenda. See Chick's SIN CITY.