San Francisco Same-Sex Marriage Cases

Location: San Francisco, California
Court: California Supreme Court

Continuing to champion the cause of traditional marriage in the state of California

In February, 2004, the mayor of San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite the existence of California law explicitly stating that marriage is limited to a man and a woman. The California Supreme Court granted an emergency order preventing the mayor and city from issuing licenses to same-sex couples and later held that the marriages were void under California law. Subsequently, proponents of same-sex marriage filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of California’s marriage laws. Representing the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund, we were victorious in California's Court of Appeals, but the California Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. Briefing is now complete before the high court, and oral arguments were heard on March 4, 2008.  The Court has rendered its decision (in favor of same-sex marriage), which is available here.