|
4 000 gay marriages nullified
12/08/2004 23:02 - (SA)
San Francisco - The California supreme court on Thursday voided the nearly 4 000 same-sex marriages sanctioned in San Francisco this year and ruled unanimously that the mayor overstepped his authority by issuing licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
The court said the city illegally issued the certificates and performed the ceremonies, since state law defined marriage as a union between a man and woman.
The justices separately decided with a 5-2 vote to nullify the 3 995 marriages performed between February 12 and March 11, when the court halted the weddings. Their legality, Justice Joyce Kennard wrote, must wait until courts resolve the constitutionality of state laws that restrict marriages to opposite-sex couples.
The same-sex marriages had virtually no legal value, but powerful symbolic value. Their nullification by the high court dismayed Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license in San Francisco.
"Del is 83 years old and I am 79," Lyon said. "After being together for more than 50 years, it is a terrible blow to have the rights and protections of marriage taken away from us.
"At our age, we do not have the luxury of time."
The court did not resolve whether the California constitution would permit a same-sex marriage, ruling instead on whether local officials could bypass state judicial and legislative branches.
Anti-gay-marriage groups hailed the ruling, saying Mayor Gavin Newsom had acted "too fast, too soon."
- AP
|
News
