May 26, 2009
California Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Gay Marriage
by John Schwartz
The New York Times
The California Supreme Court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage today, ratifying a decision made by voters last year that runs counter to a growing trend of states allowing the practice.
The decision, however, preserves the 18,000 marriages performed between the court's decision last May that same-sex marriage was lawful and the passage by voters in November of Proposition 8, which banned it. Supporters of the proposition argued that the marriages should no longer be recognized.
Today's decision, written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George for a 6-to-1 majority, said that same-sex couples still have the right to civil unions, which gives them the ability to "choose one's life partner and enter with that person into a committed, officially recognized, and protected family relationship that enjoys all of the constitutionally based incidents of marriage." But the justices said that the voters had clearly expressed their will to limit the formality of marriage to heterosexual couples.
Heated reaction to the decision began immediately, with protestors blocking traffic in front of San Francisco City Hall, their hands locked.
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