Politics & Government

Same-Sex Marriage is Legal in California Again

The Defense of Marriage Act, the same-sex marriage ban, is ruled unconstitutional.

By Jessica Mullins and Joan Dentler  

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Wednesday morning announcement that they won’t make a standing on California’s Prop 8, a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, has paved the way for same-sex marriage to resume in California.

The standing, which emphasizes that the Prop. 8 case shouldn’t have been brought to the Supreme Court, means a lower-court decision ruling Prop 8 unconstitutional stands, according to NBC Bay Area

Find out what's happening in South San Franciscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Cheers began erupting in San Francisco’s City Hall early Wednesday morning as news of the standing made its way through the crowd. San Franciso Mayor Ed Lee and California Lt. Governor and Marin resident Gavin Newsom addressed the crowd, which was aired live on an NCB Bay Area live stream.

Newsom said he was celebrating the crowds’ devotion to marriage equality.

“I want to thank you for celebrating this remarkable journey we’re still on,” Newsom said. “Like any journey, it’s not linear. It’s complex and there are good and bay days, but it’s a worthy journey we’re on.”

Find out what's happening in South San Franciscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Supreme Court also ruled that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevented gay marriages from being legally recognized by the federal government, is unconstitutional, according to the Huffington Post.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the 5-4 decision, striking down DOMA on the grounds that it violates the Fifth Amendment, depriving a class of persons from their equal liberty. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was in the minority, as were Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.

“The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity,” Justice Kennedy wrote. 

“By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here