(03-04) 15:04 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court peppered both sides of the same-sex marriage debate with questions today in a 3 1/2-hour hearing into whether the state law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman is constitutional.
The hearing dealt with challenges to the law filed by nearly two dozen same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco, which entered the case after the court invalidated an order by Mayor Gavin Newsom that allowed nearly 4,000 same-sex couples to marry in 2004.
The plaintiffs argue that the California Constitution protects the rights of same-sex couples to marry. Those arguing to keep the law included the state of California, which says the definition of marriage is so deeply engrained in law that only the Legislature or voters have the power to change it, and conservative religious groups, which argue that marriage is for procreation. They point to domestic partnership laws as proof that same-sex couples are not being discriminated against.
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