If you haven't heard (where have you been?), the California State Supreme Court affirmed gay couples right to marry on May 16, 2008. The vote was 4 to 3. Six of the seven Supreme Court justices were Republican appointed and the sole Democrat justice is seen as a moderate. We could see gay marriages as early as June 17th!

As always though, their might be a few glitches. The first glitch is a request for the Court to stay the decision's enactment until the November election results where we may be voting on a ballot initiative for a constitutional amendment against gay marriage (the second glitch) submitted by Liberty Counsel and Alliance Defense Fund. Although the number of signatures will not be verified until mid-June, most believe there are sufficient votes to put this on the ballot.

As for the request for stay of the decision, the justices have three possible options here: 1) rule against the stay, 2) rule for the stay, or 3) give themselves 60 days to consider the stay.   Interestingly, in the decision handed down by the justices, it was found “that in fact two of the parties who argued to the court should not have been there due to lack of standing: Liberty Counsel and Alliance Defense Fund. The court concluded that their interest in the litigation justifying participation was at an end when the court halted the San Francisco marriages in 2004. Presumably, the courts would now find that ADF lacks standing to seek a stay.” (Leonard, 2006).  We can only hope! 

The State of California as defendant will not be seeking a stay and in fact have argued against the stay.  Governor Schwarzenegger has also come out against the proposed ballot initiative against gay marriage.  So we are waiting for the next couple of weeks on pins and needles to see how this progresses.  If our marriages are allowed to go forward, it would be difficult to invalidate them even if the constitutional amendment passed since that amendment would not be retroactive.  Passing the ballot initiative would probably cause years of a legal quagmire over the entire issue since its wording is essentially the same that the justices have just found unconstitutional. 

That in mind, we need to get out there and fight to win the battle against this gay marriage amendment if it ends up on the November ballot!  Recent polls have shown that Californians are narrowly split on this amendment.  It looks favorable for gay marriage but just barely and we can count on conservative Republicans to use this wedge issue as a means to get out the vote for McCain.  Stay informed, talk to your neighbors, be visible as families and support marriage equality in California!