Marissa Bair Mr. Turcotte AP US History 6 December 2012 Hollingsworth v. Perry 1. In February of 2004 the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom and other city officials began distributing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples in the city of San Francisco, California. In March of the same year, the County of San Francisco ordered the halt of marriages, pending court review. On March 29th, the San Francisco Superior Court declared San Francisco’s issuing of same-sex marriage licenses illegal. Multiple state Supreme Court hearings were held on the legality of the same-sex marriages in the spring of 2004. San Francisco filed its own lawsuit against the state of California in order to have its case heard. In August, the state Supreme Court ruled the same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco violated authority and state law. The court deemed all same-sex marriages performed to be null. The next year, in March of 2005, Richard Kramer, the trial judge of In re Marriage Cases (2008) reported that California’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. They said marriage was a fundamental right that cannot be discriminated against based on sexual orientation. The next month, California legalized same-sex marriage on June 16th, 2008. Less than five months later, the marriages were stopped by the passing of Proposition 8, which provided that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid in recognized in California.” This overturned the California Supreme Court’s ruling of In re Marriage Case that same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry. Same-sex marriages in California
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have since come to a standstill; which proposes the question of the current case to be ruled on, in the case Hollingsworth v. Perry. From June 16th, 2008, to November 3rd, 2008, the California Constitution held the right that lesbian and gay couples have all of the rights and benefits that opposite-sex couples enjoy. Did California violate the Equal
Cited: "The Constitution of the United States of America: Amendments 11-27." Archives.org. N.p., n.d. Web. Garrison, Jessica. "Supreme Court Keeps California in Suspense on Gay Marriage."Latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. "Lawrence v. Texas." Casebriefs.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. "Proposition 8 Decision." Hrc.org. Human Rights Campaign, 26 May 2009. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. "Romer v. Evans." Casebriefs.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.