MARRIAGE EQUALITY
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CALIFORNIA PROP 8 - UPHELD.
JOE AND FRANK OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA ON DAY OF DECISION IN SAN FRANCISCO. PHOTO TRISH TUNNEY
SUPREME COURT SAYS NO TO CONTINUING GAY MARRIAGE IN CALIFORNIA. SAME- AND OPPOSITE-SEX MARRIAGES PERFORMED BETWEEN JUNE 16 AND NOVEMBER 4 2009 REMAIN VALID.
The lone dissenter, Justice Carlos Moreno, said the court was accepting the same separate-but-equal status for gays and lesbians that it rejected last year. "Granting same-sex couples all of the rights enjoyed by opposite-sex couples, except the right to call their officially recognized and protected family relationship a marriage, still denies them equal treatment," Moreno said. He said the ruling "places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities."
California Gay Marriage Timeline
March 7 2000: Californians pass Proposition 22, the Knight Initiative, amending its Constitution's Family Code to limit marriage to "between a man and a woman" only.
Feb 12 2004: Newly-elected San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson begins issuing marriage licenses to gay couples in defiance of the Knight Initiative, asserting that "California Constitution's equal protection clause gave him authority to grant same-sex marriage licenses." San Francisco was able to issue its own licenses because it is both a city and a county.
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, then a couple for 51 years and founders of Daughters of Bilitis, were the first couple married. Celebrities Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli Carpenter were amongst the over 4000 couples married at City Hall during the "Month of Love."
March 11 2004: At California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to "obtain a definitive judicial resolution," the Supreme Court issues a stay to stop same-sex marriages in San Francisco.
August 12 2004: 4,037 marriages between couples of the same sex are voided by the Supreme Court, citing the mayor's lack of authority to bypass state law.
2004-2008:
• San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno introduces marriage equality legislature (Assembly Bill 19 and AB13).
• Schwarzenegger vetoes gay marriage legislation – twice.
• In response to the Supreme Court void, pro- and anti-marriage equality groups and individuals battle out gay marriage rights in court, known as the In re Marriage Cases.
• San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer rules that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional.
• The Appellate Court overrules Judge Kramer's decision.
• The Supreme Court reviews the Appellate Court's decision in the In re Marriage Cases.
May 18 2008: In a historic decision, the California Supreme Court rules 4-3 that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and allows for marriage licenses to be issued to gay couples in 30 days.
In retaliation, anti-marriage equality groups introduce Proposition 8 –Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry Act– to be put on the November ballot.
June 16 2008: The "Summer of Love" begins. California begins issuing marriage licenses throughout the State. In San Francisco, Gavin Newsom again marries Phyllis Lyon to Del Martin, now in a wheelchair, as the first and only same-sex marriage on that date in San Francisco. An estimated 19,000 gay couples from all over the world are married in California in the next four months.
August 22 2008: Newlywed Del Martin passes away at the age of 87.
November 4 2008: With the largest ever voter turnout for the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, Prop 8 passes by a narrow margin of 52% of the votes. The campaigns for and against Proposition 8 raised $39.9 million and $43.3 million, respectively, becoming the highest-funded campaign on any state ballot that day and surpassing every campaign in the country in spending except the presidential contest. California stops issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
March 5 2009: The Supreme Court hears cases for and against Proposition 8.
May 26 2009: The California Supreme Court votes 6-1 for upholding Proposition 8, eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry. The Court also maintained that Prop 8 is not retroactive and the marriages performed before November 4th remain valid, recognized marriages.
The issue of marriage equality in California continues...
A UCLA study estimates the impact of extending marriage to same-sex couples on state and local government revenues in California will result in a net gain of approximately $63.8 million in revenue over the next three years.
The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Get updates in Bond's No on 8 Forum.