# California SC overturns gay marriage ban **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 15, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459 "2008-05-15T17:22:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/21 "2008-05-15T18:08:35Z")
My sister the lesbian who lives in California called me crying. She is normally very stoic, but this totally unnerved her. She and her partner of 13 years, who have two daughters, can finally make it legal. I am so damn happy for her and every other person in California who is finally being given some basic legal human rights. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/22 "2008-05-15T18:19:21Z")
Awesomesauce! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/23 "2008-05-15T18:22:32Z")
So wonderful we had to have [two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=468183) threads. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/24 "2008-05-15T18:22:56Z")
Soon California will be destroyed by God, just as Mexico, Spain, and Massachusetts were! Have we learned nothing from history? Flee! Flee! ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/25 "2008-05-15T18:25:25Z")
Hallelujah! I’m also tickled that Gov. Schwarzenegger has announced that he’ll respect the court’s ruling and oppose a ballot amendment. Does anyone know if the marriages performed in San Francisco in 2004 will be grandfathered in? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/26 "2008-05-15T18:41:32Z")
Now that is a breath of fresh air. About time, too. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/27 "2008-05-15T18:41:45Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] Does anyone know if the marriages performed in San Francisco in 2004 will be grandfathered in? [/QUOTE] If I am reading the court’s opinion correctly, no. The marriages were voided under a writ of mandamus and the ruling notes that the relief provided by the ruling was final. One side or the other was arguing that it was only an interim mandamus ruling, in relation to two separate legal actions outside the consolidated Marriage Cases. In its opinion, the court stated that the writ was final, which I interpret to mean that the marriages are still void. Presumably the couples involved got their license fee back. I fervently hope that more than a few California couples will use part of their tax rebate to stimulate the California same-sex marriage industry segment of the economy. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/28 "2008-05-15T18:44:03Z")
Yea California! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/29 "2008-05-15T18:44:46Z")
For those who don’t want to slog through the 121-page majority opinion, what it comes down to is: > [@California supreme court](#): > > Accordingly, in light of the conclusions we reach concerning the constitutional questions brought to us for resolution, we determine that the language of section 300 limiting the designation of marriage to a union “between a man and a woman” is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute, and that the remaining statutory language must be understood as making the designation of marriage available both to opposite-sex and same-sex couples. In addition, because the limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples imposed by section 308.5 can have no constitutionally permissible effect in light of the constitutional conclusions set forth in this opinion, that provision cannot stand. Section 300 is CA’s marriage statute and 308.5 is the language inserted via ballot initiative explicitly limiting marriage to mixed-sex couples. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/30 "2008-05-15T19:09:35Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I fervently hope that more than a few California couples will use part of their tax rebate to stimulate the California same-sex marriage industry segment of the economy. [/QUOTE] My SO and I are discussing that very thing. 🙂 Depending on what happens I may be inviting my doper friends to my wedding in the next year. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/31 "2008-05-15T19:31:12Z")
As I always say, society is turning our way. You can oppose gay marriage, but it is only a matter of time until it’s legal everywhere. And from then on, only a matter of time until people look back on us and wonder what the big deal ever was. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/32 "2008-05-15T19:49:18Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Soon California will be destroyed by God, just as Mexico, Spain, and Massachusetts were! Have we learned nothing from history? Flee! Flee! [/QUOTE] Canada, Netherlands, and South Africa were also destroyed by God. Which means that, as a resident of Canada, I am apparently living in Limbo. Odd. It just seems like a pleasant spring day here. We even get US television. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/33 "2008-05-15T19:52:38Z")
I can’t imagine the huge party that will take place on the Castro tonight, but I wish I could be a fly on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/34 "2008-05-15T19:55:02Z")
[QUOTE=Eva Luna] I can’t imagine the huge party that will take place on the Castro tonight, but I wish I could be a fly on the wall. [/QUOTE] I’m half tempted to hit up the West Hollywood bar strip tonight. More likely is that I’ll just pick up a bottle of champagne on the way home. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/35 "2008-05-15T20:01:57Z")
Now Jodie Foster and her partner can finally… aw, crap. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/36 "2008-05-15T20:02:16Z")
[QUOTE=Eva Luna] I can’t imagine the huge party that will take place on the Castro tonight, but I wish I could be a fly on the wall. [/QUOTE] Ooh, good point. I should go check it out. (I live ~three blocks from the [flag](http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixybeast/65912957/).) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/37 "2008-05-15T20:18:30Z")
Some brave soul is reading the opinion and redacting it live on a [DKos diary.](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/15/131415/304) Some very powerful language in that opinion, nicely done! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/38 "2008-05-15T20:18:59Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] More likely is that I’ll just pick up a bottle of champagne on the way home. [/QUOTE] I’m going to look into getting a bottle of a nice California sparkling wine. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/39 "2008-05-15T20:22:57Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] …I’m also tickled that Gov. Schwarzenegger has announced that he’ll respect the court’s ruling and oppose a ballot amendment… [/QUOTE] Hasn’t he said all along that the issue should be decided by the courts and not the legislature? Does the ruling take effect immediately (the Mass. SJC stayed their ruling for 180 days)? How long is it going to take to rewrite the licence forms? 😉 I assume CA doesn’t have any restrictions on out-of-state couples marrying. It’s probally a good thing that the San Francisco marriages haven’t revalidated. It’d create chaos for couples who were told their marriages were void 4 years ago (especially if they’ve broken up). Those that are still together can get (re)married (except for those who’ve died). ☹ Someone please tell me that Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are still alive. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459/40 "2008-05-15T20:29:32Z")
I saw that! _bounce_ That is so very awesome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-sc-overturns-gay-marriage-ban/449459.md?page=3)