Thursday, August 12, 2004
Major Setback :(
The California Supreme Court has ruled that the Mayor of San Francisco had no authority to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This ruling annuls more than 4,000 marriages including the marriage of Rosie O'Donnell to her longtime girlfriend Kelli Carpenter.
"We agree with petitioners that local officials in San Francisco exceeded their authority by taking official action in violation of applicable statutory provisions," Chief Justice Ronald George wrote for the court. "The same-sex marriages authorized by the officials are void and of no legal effect."
This is so horrible! I understand that same-sex marriages have had great successes this year but the single-blow annulment of ALL of the San Francisco marriages is painful to bear. But all hope is NOT lost in California. The case before the court only dealt with the question over whether or not city officials have the authority to issue marriage licenses in defiance of state law. The court has NOT taken up the issue of the constitutionality of that state law.
"The constitutional validity of California's statutory provisions limiting marriage to a union between a man and a woman is not before our court in this proceeding, and our decision in this case is not intended, and should not be interpreted, to reflect any view on that issue," the court wrote.
So same-sex marriage proponents have lost the first battle but the war is not over yet.
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