California court lifts same-sex marriage ban

After a hard-fought battle, gay couples in San Francisco won their marriage rights.

McClatchy Newspapers

SAN FRANCISCO — A deeply divided California Supreme Court said Thursday that California’s ban on gay marriage is not legal, a move that sent off wild cheers and celebration in San Francisco.

Proponents of same-sex marriage had gathered Thursday morning awaiting the opinion, which came on a 4-3 vote, and erupted moments after it was released at 10 a.m.

In its 121-page majority opinion, the court stated emphatically that California law may not deprive gays and lesbians of the same rights of other citizens.

“...[R]etaining the designation of marriage exclusively for opposite sex couples and providing only a separate and distinct designation for same-sex couples may well have the effect of perpetuating a more general premise — now emphatically rejected by this state — that gay individuals and same-sex couples are in some respects ‘second-class citizens’ who may, under the law, be treated differently from, and less favorably than, heterosexual individuals or opposite-sex couples,” the opinion authored by Chief Justice Ronald M. George said.

“Under these circumstances, we cannot find that retention of the traditional definition of marriage constitutes a compelling state interest. Accordingly, we conclude that to the extent the current California statutory provisions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, these statutes are unconstitutional.”

On the courthouse steps, impromptu press conferences erupted amid gleeful sobbing and cheers.

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center For Lesbian Rights, a plaintiff in the suit, read part of the opinion, then looked up and told the crowd: “Every piece of statutory language that ... excluded gays and lesbians is stricken,” she said. “We are free to marry anyone.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a statement immediately after the opinion was issued saying he would uphold the ruling.

“Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling,” he added.

The case stems from challenges to state law by gay couples who were married in ceremonies at San Francisco City Hall in 2004, when Mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Legal challenges to those marriages eventually led to the high court invalidating them six months later. California voters already had approved by a wide margin a measure in 2000 that declared marriage to be only between a man and a woman.

But San Francisco officials and about 20 of the couples granted licenses four years ago challenged the court decisions that invalidated their marriages, and in March the seven justices heard three hours of arguments over whether the state’s ban on gay marriage denies gays and lesbians their constitutional rights.

Thursday’s opinion has been eagerly anticipated by both sides in the argument, with many saying a decision in California would be felt nationwide. Only Massachusetts allows gay marriage.

Opponents of same-sex marriage already have readied a new ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to ban such unions.