Same-sex Marriage In California
Mexico: Mexico City, ROO |
Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten |
Civil unions and registered partnerships |
||
---|---|---|
|
||
Performed in some jurisdictions | ||
|
Unregistered cohabitation | ||
---|---|---|
|
||
|
See also | |
---|---|
|
The status of same-sex marriage in California is unique among the 50 U.S. states, in that the state formerly granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but has discontinued doing so. The period of granting such licenses began on June 16, 2008, due to a ruling by the Supreme Court of California based on an equal protection argument and ended November 5, 2008, due to the passage of Proposition 8, an amendment to the California Constitution that limited marriages to those between one man and one woman.
Before the passage of Proposition 8, California was only the second state to allow same-sex marriage. Marriages granted by any civil entity, foreign or otherwise, anytime before the passage of Proposition 8 remain legally recognized and retain full state-level marriage rights. Subsequent state legislation established that any same-sex marriages granted by other jurisdictions after the passage of Proposition 8 retain the state rights that come with marriage, except for the legal term "marriage" itself.
On August 4, 2010, a federal court declared the ban unconstitutional in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a decision which was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 7, 2012. The case, now known as Perry v. Brown, was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on July 31, 2012.
Read more about Same-sex Marriage In California: History, Legislation, Economic Impact
Famous quotes containing the words marriage and/or california:
“Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“But why go to California for a text? She is the child of New England, bred at her own school and church.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)