He argued that society should protect heterosexual marriage because it has an interest in making sure children are born in wedlock to parents who have a biological connection to them.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Monday for the case that will decide the fate of Proposition 8, California’s 2008 ballot initiative that added a provision to the state constitution defining marriage as being between one man and one woman.

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker overturned Proposition 8 last August, ruling that its prohibition against same-sex marriage violated the U.S. Constitution. Now the case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, reaches the second phase of a battle that will almost certainly wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Proposition 8 proponents began arguments with doubts about one judge’s objectivity on the case. On Dec. 2, Proposition 8 proponents requested that Judge Stephen Reinhardt recuse himself from the case since his wife, who was executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, provided legal counsel to those arguing against Proposition 8. Reinhardt, considered one of the most liberal judges in America, ­­refused to disqualify himself in the case.

The judges first examined the question of whether Proposition 8 proponents can legally defend the ballot measure at all. The complaint against it names California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown as defendants in the case, but both Schwarzenegger and Brown refused to defend Proposition 8.

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