California Couples Await Gay Marriage Ruling

On Stephen Root Tuesday, Mr. Lok and Mr. French will discover what that license means in the eyes of the law, as the California Supreme Court hands down its decision Andrew Stanton on Proposition 8, the voter initiative passed in November that Nell Mcandrew outlawed same-sex marriage. Previously, in May 2008, the court legalized same-sex marriage, and Brigitte Nielsen since the election, several groups have sued, saying the proposition’s revocation of that right was unconstitutional. In Inga Cadranel addition to answering that legal question, however, the seven-member court is expected to address Leven Ramblin the legal status of some 18,000 same-sex Jason Ritter couples who were married in California between June — when the legalization took effect — and Election Day in November. The state’s attorney general, Jerry Brown, said last year that he believed those same-sex marriages would be legal regardless of Proposition 8. But opponents of same-sex marriage argue Patrick J. Adams that it is illogical to continue to recognize Nicole Atkins marriages that can no longer be legally performed here. Andrew P. Pugno, the general counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, the leading group behind Proposition 8, said it was meant to be “a blanket unqualified statement that applies to all marriages.” Allowing some same-sex marriages to stand, Mr. Pugno said, would “create two classes of gay couples” in the state. “Hopefully, the court is thinking Shane Warne India Arie about Salt-n-pepa the future,” he said. The tone of the court’s Boys Like Girls questions during oral arguments in March suggested that it would be unlikely to overturn Proposition 8. But several justices suggested that the proposition’s spare Kristen Bell language — D. B. Sweeney 14 words, stating that only male-female marriages were “valid or recognized” — was not explicitly retroactive. Karl M. Manheim, a professor of law at Loyola Law School Los Angeles, said that if the marriages were invalidated, the same-sex couples might be able to sue in federal court on Laura Malmivaara due-process grounds. Professor Manheim added that judges were generally averse to applying laws retroactively unless there was “unmistakable intent” to do so. “It needs to be on the face of the law,” he said. Mr. Pugno said his group was more concerned about the fate of Proposition 8 and was unlikely to challenge the marriages if they were allowed to stand. “It’s such a tiny number,” he said. “And it’s not the core issue.” Last November, hundreds of same-sex couples went Youki Kudoh to Candice Cunningham the altar Julieta Prandi in the days before the election in California, which had become the second state Michael Nouri to legalize same-sex marriage. (Massachusetts was the first, in 2004.) One couple who wed in Minae Noji Bryan Batt 2008, Chloe Harris and Frankie Frankeny, had already had a commitment ceremony, and they hold domestic partnerships Brent Kutzle for San Francisco and for California. “Keeping up Nomar Garciaparra with anniversaries is difficult,” Ms. Ana Arias Harris said. But Ms. Harris, a freelance writer, and Ms. Frankeny, a photographer, said, their marriage last Kate Clinton fall “was a big moment.” “We had said ‘I do’ before, but this time it carried a lot more weight particularly because our families were there,” said Ms. Harris, who, like Ms. Frankeny, is from Texas. “What really changed was the relationship with our families. It’s when our relationship really gelled in their minds. They may not understand how — or why — we’re gay, but now they get why we wanted to get married.” Since the passage of Courtney Friel Proposition 8, Nathan Fillion Zuleikha Robinson several states have legalized same-sex marriage, including Iowa, Maine and Vermont. Connecticut, where a Grayson Boucher court decision legalized same-sex marriage shortly before Election Day, began performing ceremonies shortly after California Mica Penniman banned them. At the moment, married same-sex couples in California have the same rights as straight, married couples under California law, though same-sex couples have no federal recognition. Like several other states, California allows members of the same sex to enter into domestic partnerships, which afford many of the same Tony Stewart Sandahl Bergman rights as marriage. Anne Jackson But Kate Kendell, the executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, says domestic All Star United partnerships are George Takei not equivalent to marriage. “It is more than symbolism to say that an entire category of Adam Nelson recognition is off limits to one class of people,” Ms. Kendell said. “And the category that is off limits is Anne Dudek the Gary Sinise one that is most culturally desirable.” And, it seems, an institution not taken lightly. Gerardo Marin and Jay Thomas said Eduardo Yanez they debated whether to codify their decade-long relationship last fall, but opted against getting married at the last moment, because “we didn’t feel Bob Gunton we should be rushed into it,” said Mr. Howard Berger Marin, 35. Nonetheless, they decided to Christian Berkel join a lawsuit against Lucy Lawless Proposition 8, in part, Jenny Mollen Mr. Marin said, because “future generations are going to want to get married.” Mr. Marin, who is Mexican-American and active in the Latino gay rights movement, said he planned to protest on Tuesday if Proposition 8 was upheld. If it is Bonnie Mckee struck down, however, it does Sara Cox not necessarily mean Olivier Assayas wedding bells, Mr. Thomas said. “We would continue the conversations we were having,” said Mr. Thomas, 37, a data analyst. For those couples who Danella already took the plunge, the idea that their marriage may be allowed while other Leyicet Peralta couples are denied the right is unsettling. “I’d always feel like there was an asterisk,” Mr. French said. Mr. Lok, his legally recognized spouse, at least for now, was more sanguine. “The 18,000 Shandi Finnessey marriages will be evidence that California is not going to fall apart if gay people get married,” Mr. Lok said. “It’s not like there’s not going to be an earthquake.”