Federal judge denied motion to dismiss Prop. 8 trial

A major legal development in California today:

A federal judge refused today to dismiss a lawsuit challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage, setting the stage for the nation's first trial on the constitutionality of a law allowing only opposite-sex couples to wed.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, in a ruling from the bench in San Francisco, said a trial was needed to resolve crucial issues, including whether gays and lesbians are persecuted minorities entitled to judicial protection from discriminatory laws. He has scheduled the trial for January.

This is the case brought by legal superstars Ted Olsen and David Boies.

The case is Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Many of the legal documents in the case are posted here.