SAN FRANCISCO – It was a momentous decision, one that supporters say ushers in a new era of civil rights for thousands of Californians, and that opponents say is an affront to their moral beliefs.
The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, a decision that means same-sex couples may begin marrying in the state as soon as June 16, joining Massachusetts as the only other state allowing such unions.
Opponents immediately vowed to fight the ruling, first by seeking a stay of the court's order, then continuing their push to place a measure on the November ballot that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
"We're asking the governor to instruct county officials to not issue gay marriage licenses until the people answer this question in November," Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, said at a news conference outside the Capitol in Sacramento. "It is our strategy to hold off on the gay marriage license parade."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would uphold the decision, adding, "I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling."
But worries about politics and legal battles were set aside, at least temporarily, by proponents of gay marriage who celebrated a historic victory and began contacting county clerks offices to set wedding dates.
On the courthouse steps in San Francisco, impromptu news conferences erupted amid gleeful sobbing and cheers minutes after the court posted the opinion on its Web site at 10 a.m.
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."
By noon, more than 200 celebrants had gathered at City Hall and began chanting "Gavin! Gavin! Gavin!" as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom entered the ornate rotunda at City Hall.
Newsom helped set off the legal fight over gay marriage in February 2004, when he decided same-sex marriage licenses would be issued and nearly 4,000 couples flocked to City Hall and were married. Those marriages were later nullifed by the high court, and the legal wrangling continued until Thursday.
"This day is about real people and their lives … about people being able to live their lives …," Newsom said, with the dozens of gay and lesbian couples involved in the litigation standing behind him.
"It's about human dignity, it's about civil rights. It's about time in California," Newsom said to thunderous applause. "The constitution was a winner today."
For proponents of gay marriage, including many who had married four years ago in San Francisco, the ruling was deeply personal.
"I called my partner today and asked if he would marry me all over again, and he said he will," said Dennis Mangers, a 67-year-old gay and civil rights activist in Sacramento.
Mangers said the ruling "ranks right up there with Brown v. Board of Education," the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1954 that ended school segregation, and that it is particularly important for young gay people who haven't yet found acceptance in society.
The decision came in a 4-3 opinion written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who said California can no longer deprive gay and lesbian couples of the same right to marry as heterosexual couples.
"ur state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon an individual's sexual orientation," George wrote, "and … that an individual's sexual orientation – like a person's race or gender – does not constitute a legitimate basis … to deny or withhold legal rights.
"… the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual."
Call The Bee's Crystal Carreon, (916) 321-1203. Stephen Magagnini, Aurelio Rojas and Jim Sanders contributed.
