California Court Overrules Same-Sex Marriage

As anticipated, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that San Francisco government officials "exceeded their authority by taking official action in violation of applicable statutory provisions" when they legalized same-sex marriages earlier this year. Although this was a procedural ruling, both sides will use it as a rallying cry for advocacy.

Advocates for same-sex marriage were dismayed at the court's decision to nullify the 4,000 marriages, because of the impact on benefits available to married couples that are not available to non-married couples. Equal protection under the law remains a goal, which will be highlighted in October with a cross-country "Marriage Equality Express" bus tour.

Conservative groups, which oppose same-sex marriage, conceded that the next step -- a pending ruling on the constitutionality of the California state ban against same-sex marriage -- is pivotal. Courts in Massachustts, Oregon and Washington have declared their states' prohibition on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

See Opinion: Lockyer v. San Francisco (pdf); CBS ; Reuters ; San Francisco Chronicle ; Washington Post.