Gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry in California, the state Supreme Court said today in a historic ruling that could be repudiated by the voters in November.
In a 4-3 decision, the justices said the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the “fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship.” The ruling is likely to flood county courthouses with applications from couples newly eligible to marry when the decision takes effect in 30 days.
The ruling set off a celebration at San Francisco City Hall. As the decision came down, out-of-breath staff members ran into the mayor’s office where Gavin Newsom read the decision.
Today’s ruling by the Republican-dominated court affects more than 100,000 same-sex couples in the state, about a quarter of whom have children, according to U.S. census figures. It came after high courts in New York, Washington and New Jersey refused to extend marriage rights to gay couples. Before today, only Massachusetts’ top court has ruled in favor of permitting gays to wed.
Bigots will attempt to overturn this by constitutional amendment. Even Schwarzenegger, who has twice vetoed bills legalizing gay marriage, says he will fight an initiative to ban it.
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it’s good to have a victory every now and agin. How hard is “equal” to understand?
It’s about damn time CA joined MA in giving rights to everyone. It’s good to see that Schwarzenegger will not support a ban at this point.
Happy dancing around CA today!
Virtual bird seed being tossed in the direction of all the happy couples to be!
I’m delighted to hear this news!
be moving into the 21st century. Thank goodness.
Thank you, Turkana.
(OT – How are you, stranger?)
It’s about time.