Tuesday, June 17, 2008 my best friends legally got hitched. They are now part of history as California allows same-sex marriage. This is the legal ceramony, but the really party/wedding is taking place on August 17 where I'm privlaged to photograph.

Same-sex marriage in California

Same-sex marriage is legal in California. California is the second U.S. state, after Massachusetts, to make marriage licenses available to same-sex couples.

On May 15, 2008 the Supreme Court of California overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage in In re Marriage Cases. The four-to-three decision took effect on June 16, 2008.

The status of same-sex marriage in California has been a contentious political issue since at least the late 1970s. A proposed constitutional amendment (known as the Limit on Marriage Amendment or California Marriage Protection Act) that would override the Court's decision will appear on the 2008 California general election ballot. The Court declined to stay its decision until after the November elections. Some reports suggest that same sex couples from all over the U.S. will get married in California prior to the 2008 elections because California, unlike Massachusetts, does not have a residency requirement for same-sex couples.

California continues to allow domestic-partner registration, a right similar to civil unions found in other states. This grants "same-sex couples all state-level rights and obligations of marriage — in areas such as inheritance, income tax, insurance and hospital visitation" but does not apply to "federal-level rights of marriage that cannot be granted by states". UCLA’s Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy projected in June 2008 that about half of California’s more than 100,000 same-sex couples will wed during the next three years and 68,000 out-of-state couples will travel to California to exchange vows.