On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage in California. A copy of the Court’s decision can be found here.
The 4-3 ruling declared the state Constitution protects a fundamental “right to marry” that extends equally to same-sex couples. The decision opens the way for tens of thousands of gay people to wed in California, starting as early as mid-June.
The majority opinion, by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, declares any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation is constitutionally suspect in California in the same way as laws that discriminate by race or gender, making the state’s high court the first in the nation to adopt such a stringent standard.
