The Dramatic Fight for Marriage Equality Gets an HBO Documentary

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By Josh Dickey2014-05-02 22:01:09 UTC

The 2008 California ballot initiative Proposition 8 was a watershed moment for same-sex marriage rights in America — when it was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court two years later.

The dramatic fight for that convincing victory was chronicled in The Case Against 8, an HBO Films documentary that won the audience award at SXSW and best directing honors for Ben Cotner and Ryan White at the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered in January.

SEE ALSO: A Short History of Obama's Evolving Stance on Gay Marriage

HBO released the first trailer for the film on Friday, and all the major players are there, including Washington power lawyer Ted Olson, who successfully represented George W. Bush in the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore, then served as U.S. Solicitor General for President Bush three years after that.

"I was somehow a traitor to conservative beliefs," Olson says in the trailer, of the accusations he faced while litigating the case. "Marriage is a conservative value!"

The Case Against 8 will be released in theaters starting June 6, then debuts on HBO June 23.

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Topics: Documentaries, Film, gay marriage, Proposition 8, same-sex marriage, The Case Against 8

Image: HBO Films