S.F. to Sue State Over Gay Marriage Ban

[DuctapeFatwa]

After sanctioning more than 2,700 gay marriages in the past week, the city said Thursday it is suing the state of California, challenging its ban on same-sex marriages on constitutional grounds.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera planned to file the suit in the afternoon, said his spokesman, Matt Dorsey.Two judges already are considering challenges from conservative groups seeking to halt the marriage spree that began last Thursday. The city's lawsuit asks that those cases be consolidated into one case.

The city is asking Superior Court Judge James Warren to declare unconstitutional two sections of the California Family Code that define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

City officials want the judge to determine if restricting same-sex couples from marrying violates the equal protection and due process clauses of the California Constitution.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040219/D80QIBUO2.html

[Ediacara]

1. Wow

This oughta be interesting...

[proud patriot]

2. wheeeeeeeeeeeeee !

:D

[Chovexani]

3. Yay!

This is awesome news. Keep up the fight!

I wish NYC would do the same thing but Bloomberg's such a dipwad...

[Book Lover]

7. This link's for you

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/164743p-144340c.html

Unlike California law, New York's matrimonial law does not restrict marriage licenses to persons of the opposite sex, in the view of leading legal authorities.

A 1997 report published jointly by three committees of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and endorsed by the association's committee on matrimonial law concluded that New York's current domestic relations law is gender neutral. The association concluded that marriage licenses can and should be issued now to same-sex couples under existing law. A supplemental joint committee report by the association in 2001 reaffirmed this conclusion.


Added extract on edit

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. That's OUTRAGEOUS!!

All marriages are diminished by this - see, here's an example....



/sarcasm

"FUCK BUSH" Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[David__77]

5. That is the proper course of action.

The unconstitutional law must be challenged. We have more rights under California law than federal law. "Equal protection" must also include sexual orientation. Having marriage licensure discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation is not in accord with equal protection.

[Terran]

6. This is great!

Take the fight TO THEM! SF must have some much smarter people running City Hall then when I lived there!

I don't see how any judge could fail to find such a law unconstitutional, if CA's Const. has the same provision as the federal ("Equal protection under the law."). Any court would have to use the Texas sodomy law decision as persuasive, at least.