California Supreme Court to rule on same-sex marriage ban

Photo: TJ Sullivan

Back in November, I was grabbing coffee with a fellow journalist. It was the first time we had met, and when I noticed he was wearing a wedding band, I said, “So you’re married.”

To which he responded: “For now.”

I didn’t know what to say. I just hoped that his wife knew their marriage wasn’t so wonderful. I quickly learned, though, that his spouse was not a woman and that his marital problems were legal, not relational.

When we last checked in on Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that limits marriage to a heterosexual couple, the state Supreme Court was leaning toward upholding the law. Tomorrow the court will issue its ruling, and with it the fate of the 18,000 same-sex couples who were wed during the six months gay marriages were performed in California.

From the NYT:

For those couples who already took the plunge, the idea that their marriage may be allowed while other couples are denied the right is unsettling. “I’d always feel like there was an asterisk,” Mr. French said.

Mr. Lok, his legally recognized spouse, at least for now, was more sanguine.

“The 18,000 marriages will be evidence that California is not going to fall apart if gay people get married,” Mr. Lok said. “It’s not like there’s not going to be an earthquake.”

In related news, Maine legalized gay marriage earlier this month. You know what Miss California thinks about this.