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16 May 2008

california supreme court overturns ban on same-sex marriage

Lesbian talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres and her long-time partner Portia de Rossi are among those planning on wedding bells, as the California Supreme Court overturned the ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday.

In a 4-3 ruling, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry, rejecting state marriage laws as discriminatory. The broadly worded decision is also expected to have the effect of invalidating virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.

Lesbian talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres announced her plans to wed her long-time partner Australian actress Portia de Rossi during the taping of her talk show on Thursday (to be aired on Friday in the US), the day the California Supreme Court announced its ruling.
The long awaited court decision stemmed from San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom's highly publicised move to allow same-sex weddings in 2004. Four-thousand gay couples wed before the Supreme Court invalided the marriages and put a halt to the practice after a month.

Two dozen gay couples along with the city and gay rights organisations then sued.

The turn of events spurred a national dialogue over gay rights and a conservative backlash in a presidential election year which resulted in several states passing constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. Today, 27 states have such amendments.

Chief Justice Ronald George, who wrote the 121-page majority opinion, said the state Constitution's guarantees personal privacy and autonomy which protects "the right of an individual to establish a legally recognised family with the person of one's choice."

He said the 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 opposite-sex couples."

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who previously has vetoed two bills in favour of gay marriage, issued a statement saying he "respects" the decision and "will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn" it.

However religious and social conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage said the court had overstepped its bounds and are seeking to override the court ruling in favour of same-sex marriage.

Until that happens, same-sex couples are likely to be able to tie the knot in as little as a month. And unlike Massachusetts - the only other state where same-sex marriage is legal, California has no residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license; meaning gays from around the country are able to go to California to be wed.

Prior to the ruling, California, New Jersey and Vermont have legislation which grants same-sex partners many of the same legal rights as married couples.

The ruling is considered monumental by virtue of the state's size - 38 million of the total population of 302 million are Californian residents. According to U.S. census figures, there are some 100,000 same-sex couples in California, about a quarter of whom have children.

The California Supreme Court was the first state high court to strike down a law barring interracial marriage in a 1948. The United States Supreme Court did not follow suit until 1967.

United States

Reader's Comments

1. 2008-05-17 00:28  
And it was a conservative court, too; 6 of the 7 judges were Rupublicans!

A happy day, but sad that Mrs. Loving ded just 2 weeks ago, in her eighties, after expressing support, and didn't live to see it; it was she who overturned the laws banning inter-racial marriage in the USA, when she was prosecuted for marrying a white man in the 1960s, appealing to the supreme court.
2. 2008-05-17 02:14  
Thats good for them but besides the benefits that married couples are entitled to, i dont have much regard for a piece of paper honestly..I dont need a certificate to tell me that my partner is my soulmate..I am also opposed to the legal definition of marriage because in my opinion its a sham..a prejudiced, bigoted sham in many other nations..
3. 2008-05-17 03:33  
Wow..finally they are planning to get married after a long wait for the same-sex marriage ban. I am so happy for them now.

all the best
Comment #4 was deleted by its author
5. 2008-05-17 17:42  
the video
www.eonline.com/uberblog/b137465_ellen_portia_here_come_brides.html
6. 2008-05-18 01:06  
GO ELLEN! GO PORTIA! IM SO FREAKINGGG HAPPY FOR THEM. WHEN I HEARD ABOUT THIS, OMG, I CRIED A LIL BIT! DEFF. HAPPY FOR THEM. THEY DESERVE IT! =] CONGRATS AND MAY THEIR LOVE AND HAPPINESS BE WITH THEM FOREVA! =]]]
7. 2008-05-18 15:29  
This is absolutely fabulous!
8. 2008-05-19 00:15  
That is great. It will be good to see this in Asia and Africa, even in Antartica...in my life time?
9. 2008-05-19 03:50  
YES!!!! It finally happened!!!
10. 2008-05-19 12:58  
its a good news to read..but im still single im looking someone to fullfill my dreams to become good partner..anyone here?just contact me im 25 gaymale from philippines...contact me..+639102596190
11. 2008-05-19 15:02  
Hey...CONGRATS to Ellen & Portia.
Is there any Lesbian and Gay couples from Singapore going over for marriage?
If there's, i'm sure one dae i'll be there too.
Cheers.
12. 2008-05-19 16:32  
Yes, people must be free to live their lives in accordance with their nature. Being gay or lesbian is not a "choice"; it is who the individual is, and that fact needs to be respected and accepted.

It is surprising to read about so-called "religiious and social conservatives" opposing same-sex marriage and declaring that the California Supreme Court had "overstepped its bounds". What are these "bounds" and who sets them? Are these religions above the courts in deciding these matters?

Why would I want my life to be controlled by a religion or religious group that I don't even believe in? Why should anyone feel they have the divine right to decide how other people live, just because they happen to "believe" in a certain book about a certain "God"? Would any of these people care if I lost my job and was starving to death? So, what business is it of theirs how I choose to live?

Isn't it time to give the boot to these religious fanatics; tell them to get their ugly noses out of our private lives? Organized religions are the bane of society, and need to be driven to extinction. Congratulations to the California Supreme Court for not cowing down before mindless hate groups.
13. 2008-05-19 17:36  
wonderful news
14. 2008-05-19 19:41  
thank God California here I come! does anyone know how awful the taxes are in Canada . . . !
15. 2008-05-20 12:35  
CONGRATULATIONS to Both Ellen & Portia....
How i wish i am able to marry my Partner tOo!!
I wanna lead my OWN LIFE but not for Others!!
ASIA.. WAKE UP!!!
16. 2008-05-20 16:30  
Finally, and I am surely glad to hear that. Happy for Ellen and Portia. They both sure looks good :)

Make it happen, Singapore!
17. 2008-05-20 17:14  
Hello there! Wow. That's sound great. Im so glad to hear from same sex marriage human rights in California. It will be freedom those who gay and lesbian marriage. I wish i am going to marry a man too. Yay! I hope i will real come!

18. 2008-05-20 17:35  
This is good news :D


19. 2008-05-24 08:23  
What's the point of marrying my Californian partner when immigration law does not recognized same-sex marriage??? I'm Singaporean and my partner is in US. Currently we are living together but I am on a student visa. If I finished school and cannot find a company to sponsor me to work here in US, then I guess I have to return to Singapore and either
1) have a long distance relationship
2) breakup because immigration does not accept same-sex marriage and it's stressful mentally, physically, emotionally and financially keeping a long distance relationship.
Also, there maybe a chance that this law might be overturned and then it will be like was happened in SF years ago. This marriage law is not confirmed, we have to wait till Nov to really know if it stay or not.
20. 2008-05-26 02:39  
There is probably no point in marrying your partner if what you seek is immigration status. This State Supreme Court ruling is but one step in a struggle that has taken years just to reach this point. I am an American and have a Thai boyfriend attenting univeristy here in Los Angeles. While we have not talked marriage for ourselves, I do understand that it is a show of commitment to many gay couples who have been together for years and gives them rights in the legal system here. While it is possible that voters could enact legislation that would prohibit "gay marriage" eventually we wll chip away at these unfair laws and we WILL prevail. What happens in Europe, America and other countries will eventually sway the population in places liike Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and eventually we will win the cause. It may not happen in my lifetime but hopefully in the lifetime of the majority of members here on Fridae

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