(CNN) –California Ban On Same Sex Marriage Struck Down: The California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage Thursday, saying sexual orientation, like race or gender, “does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights.” In a 4-3 120-page ruling issue, the justices wrote that “responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation.”
Fantastic news and congratulations to all involved! In addition: Mercury News:
In a 136-page ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker sided with two same-sex couples who challenged voter-approved Proposition 8, which embedded a ban on gay marriage in the California constitution and wiped out a prior California Supreme Court ruling that briefly legalized same-sex nuptials across the state. Walker ordered that Proposition 8 should be immediately voided, and same-sex couples be given the chance marry across California.
“Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians,” the judge wrote. “The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite sex couples.
Of course *sigh*, there will be opposition, as Feministing reports, and I suspect things won’t ever be completely unchallenged… Sometimes I wonder if we really are moving forward as a society, when I think of some events in 2010 – so this really is encouraging regardless. Again, well done USA! 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Very good news. We just have to keep plugging away.
Sanity rules…for now. The majority should not be able to abridge the civil rights of the minority. If having children is a requirement of marriage, then it should be illegal for infertile and post menopausal women to marry. Marriage that is defined by sex, demeans the meaning and the participants.
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