 |
| Helen Zia, left, and Lia Shigemura, right, are married by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera at City Hall, 17 Jun 2008 |
Thousands of gay couples are expected to wed in California in the coming weeks now that same-sex marriage is legal in the state.
Officials
in California began performing same-sex marriages Monday evening local
time as the state became the second in the United States to recognize
same-sex marriages.
Gay couples waited in long lines for
marriage licenses and to exchange vows Tuesday, the first full day
same-sex marriages were legal in California. Hundreds of couples are
expected to be married today throughout the western state.
In a
four-to-three decision in May, the California Supreme Court ruled
against a voter-approved law that restricted marriage to a man and a
woman. The court said the state constitution's guarantee of equal
rights gives same-sex couples the right to marry.
Californians
will have a chance to overturn the court ruling in November when they
vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to limit marriage to a man
and a woman.
Twenty-seven U.S. states have amended their constitutions to limit marriage to a union between a man and a woman.
California
voters passed a ban on gay marriages in 2000 with 61 percent of the
vote. A recent survey shows a slight majority of Californians now
support the right to same-sex marriage.
Massachusetts is the only other U.S. state to allow gay marriage.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters and AP.
E-mail This Article
Print Version
