The California Supreme Court ruled this morning that a state law
restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples is
unconstitutional.
The ruling will allow same-sex couples to marry from as soon as next month.
In its 121-page judgement, the court declared: “The California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.”
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Crowds celebrate in Los Angeles |
In 2004, the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, directed city officials to issue marriage licences without regard to gender or sexual orientation, believing the law defining marriage, adopted in 1977, violated the equal protection clause of the state’s constitution.
Within one month, some 4,000 same-sex couples had married before the California Supreme Court stepped in ruling that local executive officers did not have the authority to determine whether a law is unconstitutional.
In welcoming the decision, Australian Marriage Equality (AME) believes it places greater pressure on the Rudd Government to end discrimination in Australia.
“It’s time the Australian government pulled its head out of the sand. This issue is not going away, they cannot just avoid it any longer. As the number of foreign jurisdictions which deliver full equality grows, Australia’s bigotry only becomes even more excruciatingly obvious”, said AME National Convener, Peter Furness.
In 1948, some 60 years ago, California became the first American state to judicially strike down laws prohibiting marriage between interracial couples.
California’s Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, released a statement within minutes of the judgement: “I respect the court’s decision and as governor, I will uphold its 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”.
California now joins Massachusetts in providing equal marriage in the USA. Equal marriage already exists in Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and is expected in Norway and Sweden in the next several months.
Update - 24 June 2008
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Phyllis Lyon (83) and Del Martin (87) were the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage licence from the state of California at 5pm on 16 June 2008. The couple, together for more than 50 years, were then married in San Francisco's City Hall. Phyllis and Del are just one of thousands of couples obtaining marriage licences this week in California. George Takei, best known for playing Sulu on "Star Trek," met his partner Brad Altman in the 1970s. The couple received their marriage licence on 17 June and plan to marry on 14 September in Los Angeles. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world today," Altman said. "I'm marrying George Takei, and I'm doing it legally." |
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