By Nancy D. Polikoff March 3, 2008
Four years ago, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declared by fiat that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, television cameras captured for the whole world the images of gay and lesbian couples inundating the streets outside City Hall. In less than a month, more than 4,000 same-sex couples wed there, until the California Supreme Court stopped the weddings and later declared the marriages invalid. The court said it would willingly hear a constitutional challenge brought in a more orderly fashion.
On Tuesday, the court will follow through on its offer, hearing oral arguments in the cases of 23 same-sex couples seeking the right to marry. Although California has a comprehensive domestic partnership law, gay rights advocates argue that the creation of that separate legal status falls short of the state Constitution's guarantee of equality.
They're right. Separate is not equal; it is a mark of second-class status.
Read more at The Los Angeles Times
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