Posts Tagged ‘California’
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AP: California counties can issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning June 17, the state said in a directive issued Wednesday.
The state Office of Vital Records said it chose June 17 because the state Supreme Court has until the close of business on June 16 to decide whether to grant a stay of its May 15 ruling legalizing gay marriage.
Gay rights advocates and some clerks initially thought couples would be able to wed as early as Saturday, June 14—exactly 30 days after the court’s ruling, when its decisions typically take effect.
But a group opposed to gay marriage has asked the court to stay its decision until after the November election, when voters are likely to face a ballot initiative that would once again define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Passage of the initiative would overrule the Supreme Court.
Under the Supreme Court’s regular rules of procedure, justices have until the end of the day on June 16 to rule on the stay request, according to the memo sent by e-mail to the state’s 58 county clerks. Lawyers involved in the marriage case have said previously the court could grant itself an extra 60 days to consider the stay.
The guidelines from Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, also contained copies of new marriage forms that include lines for “Party A” and “Party B” instead of bridge and groom. The gender-neutral nomenclature was developed in consultation with county clerks, according to the letter.
“Effective June 17, 2008, only the enclosed new forms may be issued for the issuance of marriage licenses in California,” the directive reads.
Advocate: Guadalupe Benitez claims that after being treated with fertility drugs for nearly a year, her Christian doctors refused to inseminate her because she is a lesbian.
She sued and a San Diego County trial judge sided with her. But an appeals court reversed the ruling, and her lawsuit is scheduled to be heard by the California Supreme Court this week.
Reuters: A majority of registered Californian voters oppose changing the constitution of the most populous U.S. state to bar gays from marrying, according to poll released on Wednesday.
The Field Poll survey found 51 percent against approving a possible November ballot measure to prohibit gay marriage, with 43 percent in favor. A slightly differently worded question on the same issue found 54 percent opposed and 40 percent in favor.
The poll follows a state Supreme Court decision this month that barring homosexuals from marrying violated the California Constitution. Opponents of same-sex marriage have intensified efforts to put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot in November.
The poll found a strong generational gap on the issue, with those aged 18-29 approving of gay marriage by 68 percent and those 65 or older disapproving by 55 percent.
The poll found that in recent decades a growing number of Californians have approved allowing same-sex couples to marry, with 51 percent of those polled now approving, up from 44 percent in 2006 and 30 percent in 1985.
The poll of 1,052 registered Californian voters was taken from May 17-26, in the days after California Supreme Court decision, and had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points to 5 percentage points, depending on the question.
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