California's top court says gay marriage ruling stays

California's top court says gay marriage ruling stays

California's top court Wednesday refused to go back on a decision paving the way towards gay marriage and said it would come into force on June 16.

"The California Supreme Court today filed an order in the marriage cases, denying requests to stay its decision until after the November 2008 election and denying petitions for rehearing," the court said in a statement.

The decision would "become final on June 16 at 5:00 pm" (0000 GMT June 17), it added.

Opponents of same-sex marriage had appealed to the court to suspend its historic ruling which de facto legalized gay unions by annuling a discriminatory civil code.

Under the May 15 ruling the court said all California couples have a "basic civil right" to marry "without regard to their sexual orientation."

California is now only the second US state after Massachusetts to legalize unions between homosexuals.

The issue looks set again to become a heated election year issue in 2008, after numerous US states during the 2006 midterm vote had ballot measures on same-sex marriage. Such measures in the past have had the effect of boosting conservative turnout at the polls.

According to the website of the California secretary of state, gay marriage opponents collected the 694,354 signatures necessary to put an initiative on the California ballot on November 4, the same day US voters choose the next president and members of Congress.

Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a moderate on social issues, has already said he opposes the initiative and that he will respect the ruling of the state supreme court, despite his previous opposition to gay marriage.

The initiative comes as public opinion in the state appears more and more open to homosexual marriage.

The Field Institute published a study on May 28 showing 52 percent of Californians supported homosexual marriage compared to 41 percent against. That poll was a sharp contrast to one carried out in 1977, when 59 percent of Californians surveyed rejected gay marriage, with only 28 percent in favor.

California is the country's most populous state with some 37 million residents, and there is nothing to stop gay couples from outside the state getting married there.

Several gay celebrities such as chat-show hostess Ellen DeGeneres and actor George Takei, who played Mr Sulu in Star Trek, have said they now plan to marry their long-time partners.

The court ruling followed a four-year legal battle waged by backers of same-sex marriage, including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and could affect the lives of tens of thousands of people.

California: Gay Marriages To Begin June 17th

California: Gay Marriages To Begin June 17th

Stuart Gaffney, left, and John Lewis, right, embrace hands with their wedding bands on in San Francisco on Friday, June 30, 2006. More California voters now support allowing same-sex marriage than oppose it, according to a new poll released Wednesday, May 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Benjamin Sklar)

California Supreme Court ruling, same-sex couples will be able to wed in the state beginning June 17, according to a state directive issued Wednesday.

The state said it chose June 17 because the state Supreme Court has until the day before to decide whether to grant a stay of its May 15 ruling legalizing gay marriage.

Gay-rights advocates and some clerks initially thought couples would be able to wed as early as Saturday, June 14. The court's decisions typically take effect 30 days after they are made.

The guidelines from Janet McKee, chief of California's office of vital records, to the state's 58 county clerks also contained copies of new marriage forms that include lines for "Party A" and "Party B" instead of bride and groom. The gender-neutral nomenclature was developed in consultation with county clerks, according to the letter.

"Effective June 17, 2008, only the enclosed new forms may be issued for the issuance of marriage licenses in California," the directive reads.

A group opposed to gay marriage has asked the court to stay its decision until after the November election, when voters are likely to face a ballot initiative that would once again define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Passage of the initiative would overrule the Supreme Court.

Under the Supreme Court's regular rules of procedure, justices have until the end of the day June 16 to rule on the stay request, according to the memo sent by e-mail to county clerks. Lawyers involved in the marriage case have said previously the court could grant itself an extra 60 days to consider the stay.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera submitted a brief Wednesday urging the court to refuse the stay request.

"To deny this fundamental constitutional right to same-sex couples based on speculation about what might happen in November would not merely be inappropriate, it would be inhumane," Herrera's filing said.

A poll released Wednesday found that for the first time, about half of California voters support same-sex marriage.

The Field Poll found that 51 percent of respondents backed legalizing same-sex marriage and 42 percent opposed it. A 2006 poll found that 44 percent supported same-sex marriage and 50 percent objected; in 1977, the first year Field posted the question to California voters, only 28 percent were in favor.

"I would say this is a historic turning point or milestone," poll director Mark DiCamillo said. "We have speculated in the past there would be some time in the future when a majority would support same-sex marriage. Well, the lines have crossed."

The survey of 1,052 registered voters was conducted over the phone from May 17 to May 26 and had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

The poll's findings conflict with a Los Angeles Times/KTLA poll of 705 voters released last week that found 54 percent backed the proposed gay marriage ban and 35 percent opposed it.

Andrew Pugno, legal adviser for the coalition of religious and social conservative groups sponsoring the measure, said the Times poll is more consistent with his group's internal polling.

"We could acknowledge there has been increasing acceptance of the idea of gay relationships over the last 10 or 20 years, but we think when it comes to marriage there is still a solid majority who want to see it reserved for a man and a woman, and that is all this initiative is about," Pugno said.