Photo by Luke Thomas

By Julia Cheever

May 15, 2008

The California Supreme Court ruled by a 4-3 vote in San Francisco today that same-sex couples have a right to marry under the state constitution.

The court invalidated state laws requiring marriage to be between a man and a woman.

The court majority said denying same-sex couples the right to marry violated the state constitutional guarantees of a right to marry and to equal protection.

The decision becomes final in 30 days unless that period is extended by court order.

Chief Justice Ronald George, the author of the majority decision, wrote, “Our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual’s sexual orientation - like a person’s race or gender - does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold rights.”

Justice Marvin Baxter said in a dissent that the majority decision “violates the separation of powers and thereby commits profound error.”