California Supreme Court affirms gay marriage

The Supreme Court of California has just handed down a ruling that gays and lesbians have the fundamental right to marry and form families just like all other human beings!

In a 4-3 decision, the justices said the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the “fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship.” The ruling is likely to flood county courthouses with applications from couples newly eligible to marry when it takes effect in 30 days.

It’s about damn time. California has had domestic partnerships for a while, but these don’t carry all the benefits of marriage when it comes to taxes, immigration, medical benefits, and so forth. The California state legislature had passed two laws allowing gay marriage, and Schwarzenegger (remember him? the Governator?) vetoed both of them. Yet this is the man who also has said that he’s against a citizen-driven initiative to amend the state constitution to prohibit gay marriage, which looks like it’s going to be on the ballot before voters in November. Hopefully the presidential election in a “blue state” such as California will drive up the number of people who turn up not simply to vote for a president but to vote against this homophobic ballot proposition. A massive, well-funded, and well-organized effort to get voters to do both these things will be necessary starting very soon.

But for now, let’s rejoice in this ruling from a Republican-dominated court. Thank goodness there are still a few people out there who recognize that human rights should not stop with heterosexual couples.