The road to the altar

SAN FRANCISCO — Milestones for same sex marriage in California

• • Feb. 12, 2004: Mayor Gavin Newsom authorizes The City to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. More than 4,000 such couples were married during the 29-day wedding spree that followed.
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• • Feb. 13, 2004: Two organizations opposed to same-sex marriage — the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Campaign for California Families — file lawsuits in defense of the state’s marriage law.
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• • March 11, 2004: San Francisco stops issuing marriage licenses at the order of the California Supreme Court. San Francisco’s city attorney files a lawsuit against the state in San Francisco Superior Court challenging the constitutionality of laws prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying in California.
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• • March 2004: Twelve same-sex couples and two gay-rights groups file a lawsuit — Woo v. California — in San Francisco Superior Court contending that the state’s marriage laws violate the California Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment. Two other lawsuits against the state, one on behalf of two same-sex couples in L.A. — Tyler v. California — and another on behalf of six same-sex couples filed in S.F. — Clinton v. California — are also filed.
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• • May 25, 2004: A California Supreme Court hearing concentrates on Newsom’s authority to authorize same-sex marriage licenses and on the status of the couples who married at City Hall between Feb. 12 and March 11.
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• • Aug. 12, 2004: The California Supreme Court voids San Francisco’s same-sex marriages exactly six months after they were performed, finding that Newsom violated state law.
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• • December 2004: All six cases — for and against same-sex marriage — are heard simultaneously in San Francisco Superior Court.
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• • March 14, 2005: A San Francisco Superior Court judge declares California’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. The ruling is put on hold — so same-sex couples are still not allowed to marry —
  to allow for court appeals, which are filed by the state attorney general, the Campaign for California Families and Prop. 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund.
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• • July 10, 2006: All six cases are heard in the California Court of Appeal before a three-judge panel.
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• • Oct. 5, 2006: California Court of Appeal panel upholds marriage laws that exclude gay and lesbian couples as constitutional. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera vows to submit
  a case to the state Supreme Court for review.
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• • Nov. 13, 2006: San Francisco appeals to the state Supreme Court, asking it to review the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage.
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• • Dec. 20, 2006: The state Supreme Court votes unanimously to take the case.
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• • April 2, 2007: Lawyers for Herrera argue in briefs filed
  with the court that the same-sex marriage ban makes lesbians and gays second-class
  citizens.
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• • March 4, 2008: State Supreme Court justices preside over a 3½-hour hearing in which they consider questions of tradition and discrimination.
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• • May 15, 2008: The California Supreme Court overturns the voter-approved same-sex marriage ban in a ruling that would make California the second state in the country to allow lesbians and gays to marry. The 4-3 decision concludes that legislative and initiative measures limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples violate the state constitutional rights of same-sex couples.
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• • June 16, 2008: The state supreme court’s ruling on same-sex marriage in California becomes effective at 5:01 p.m.  Newsom presides over the marriage of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who had known each other for 55 years and were the first couple married during San Francisco’s 2004 marriage spree.
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• • June 17 to Nov. 4, 2008: An estimated 18,000 same-sex couples are married statewide.
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• • Nov. 4, 2008: Proposition 8, a ballot measure amending the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, is passed with just more than 52 percent of the vote. In the days that follow, county clerk offices halt same-sex marriages. 
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• • Nov. 5, 2008: The San Francisco city attorney files a challenge to Prop. 8, along with two other groups, claiming that the measure took away fundamental rights that would require a constitutional revision, not an amendment.
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• • Nov. 19, 2008: The state Supreme Court agrees to hear the case about the legality of Prop. 8, but denies requests to stay implementation of the ballot measure.
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• • Dec. 19, 2008: California Attorney General Jerry Brown reverses a previous stance supporting Prop. 8
  and files an argument claiming the ballot measure undermines fundamental liberties set forth in the state constitution.
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• • Jan. 15: At least three dozen "friend-of-the-court" briefs are submitted for and against Prop. 8 with a majority calling for the state Supreme Court to strike down the law. The high court is scheduled to hear oral arguments March 5.
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• • March 5: The state Supreme Court hears arguments challenging Prop. 8 from 9am to noon in the court’s chambers at 350 McAllister Street.  A ruling will be due within 90 days.
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Source: Examiner archives; National Center for Lesbian Rights