[ + ] Text [ – ]
To Deepen Your Knowledge About California
California Majority Supports Marriage Equality
A majority (51%) of Californians support marriage equality, while an even larger majority is against (54%) the anti-marriage initiative on the California November 2008 ballot.
Following the CA Supreme Court decision upholding the freedom to marry, California's highly respected, independent and non-partisan Field Poll showed an outright majority of Californians (51%) in favor of ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage while a majority (54%) also disapproves of writing marriage discrimination into the state constitution. [Field Poll, 05/08]
The Road to Marriage in California
On May 15, 2008 the California Supreme Court ruled in In Re: Marriage Cases to uphold the freedom to marry. As of June 16, 2008 at 5pm, same-sex couples can receive marriage licenses from the state of California.
At the same time, an anti-marriage initiative which qualified for the November 2008 ballot is proposing to write marriage discrimination into the state constitution and take away equality and fairness in California. Learn how to protect marriage in California.
Decades of public education, advocacy, political leadership, and progress on LGBT issues paved the way for marriage equality in California. Some of the historical moments were:
- In 1999, the state legislature created a statewide domestic partnership registry, enabling same-sex couples to register their partnership. At the time, registering had very few legal consequences. However, each year since, the legislature has added new legal meaning to that status.
- In 2000, despite growing statewide support for equality, voters passed an initiative amending state law to declare that California would not recognize other states' same-sex marriages.
- In February 2004, San Francisco's mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the city's public offices to begin marrying same-sex couples. The California Supreme Court later invalidated those marriages as unauthorized by state law. A case was filed on behalf of 15 couples, Equality California, and Our Family Coalition, called In re: Marriage Cases, which challenged California's restrictions on marriage.
- In 2005, California's Legislature became the first in the U.S. to pass a bill ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, but Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the legislation. The bill passed again in 2007, gaining even more support from legislators, but again was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger.
- In order to keep moving towards marriage in California, a public education campaign, Let California Ring, was launched in September 2007 to open hearts and minds about the freedom to marry and the respect, support, protections, and responsibilities that come with marriage.
Watch Videos and Commercials from California
Watch Marriage Equality USA Partners Find Out About the California Supreme Court Ruling
Vlogger Travis Mathews records Marriage Equality USA's Molly McKay and Pam Brown as they learn the high court's decision.
California Supreme Court Hears Marriage Arguments
The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday, March 4th, in In re Marriage Cases, the case with the most 'friend-of-court' briefs filed in memory in California.
VIDEO: Let California Ring
Let California Ring
November 13, 2007
The must see video that says it all. Let this moving short show you how, and why we need to spark conversations about the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples across California.
VIDEO: 'Let California Ring' campaign
CNN
October 9, 2007
CNN's Mary Snow reports on Equality California's 'Let California Ring' campaign for Situation Room which uses a TV ad with an amusing wedding scenario to explain why marriage matters to people who may still be undecided on where they stand on the freedom to marry.
Garden Wedding
Let California Ring
October 2007
Watch Let California Ring’s commercial, meant to open hearts and minds about the freedom to marry and the respect, support, protections, and responsibilities that come with marriage.
VIDEO: San Diego mayor rethinks his position on marriage
CBS5
September 19, 2007
Watch this very touching video of the Republican mayor of San Diego rethinking his position on marriage, rejecting civil union, and deciding to sign, not veto, a resolution adding San Diego to the other major California cities calling on the CA Supreme Court to support the freedom to marry.
[BACK]
Equality for All is working to preserve marriage by leading the fight against an anti-marriage initiative on the November 2008 ballot in California.
The must see video that says it all. Let this moving short show you how, and why we need to spark conversations about the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples across California. (Link)
Read the CA Supreme Court decision for In Re Marriage Cases which upheld the freedom to marry in California. (concludes at p.120)
The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law released a new research study analyzing the economic gains, an approximate $64 million boost in direct spending over the next three years, that same-sex couples' weddings will bring to California. (Link)
