California Supreme Court Rules For Marriage Equality!

The California Supreme Court has ruled (PDF link):

We conclude that to the extent the current California statutory provisions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, these statutes are unconstitutional. . . . we determine that the language of section 300 limiting the designation of marriage to a union “between a man and a woman” is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute, and that the remaining statutory language must be understood as making the designation of marriage available both to opposite-sex and same-sex couples. In addition, because the limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples imposed by section 308.5 can have no constitutionally permissible effect in light of the constitutional conclusions set forth in this opinion, that provision cannot stand. Plaintiffs are entitled to the issuance of a writ of mandate directing the appropriate state officials to take all actions necessary to effectuate our ruling in this case so as to ensure that county clerks and other local officials throughout the state, in performing their duty to enforce the marriage statutes in their jurisdictions, apply those provisions in a manner consistent with the decision of this court.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has issued the following statement in response:

I respect the Court’s decision and as Governor, I will uphold its ruling. Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling.

More to come . . . in particular, though, I’ll note that a change to the state constitution could be on the ballot in November, regardless of the governor’s stance. Still, many, many congratulations to all those who worked for this victory, and to all those who stand to benefit from it. The momentum is in the right direction. (And unlike Massachusetts, California has no rule against out-of-state couples marrying there, even if such marriages would be illegal in their home states.)