SAN FRANCISCO (AP) __ A San Francisco Superior Court judge has ruled today that California´s law limiting marriage to a union between a man and a woman is unconstitutional.
It´s a huge legal milestone that — if upheld on appeal — would pave the way for California to follow Massachusetts in allowing same-sex couples to wed.
San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer says in his ruling: “It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners.”
Kramer´s decision came in a pair of lawsuits seeking to overturn California´s statutory ban on gay marriage.
They were brought by the city of San Francisco and a dozen same-sex couples last March, after the California Supreme Court halted the four-week marriage spree.
Mayor Gavin Newsom had initiated the unions by directing city officials to issue marriage licenses to gays and lesbians in defiance of state law.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 2:24 pm