California gay marriage court battle likely to last years

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040313-0007-ca-gaymarriage-legal.html

SAN FRANCISCO – The California Supreme Court's decision to block the city's gay marriages, while an immediate blow to gay and lesbians wanting to wed, had nothing to do with the legality of same-sex nuptials.

The question of whether gay marriages in California would ever be legal remains in limbo and isn't even before the justices. The justices are only addressing the issue of an elected official's power to skirt the law – in this case, the California Family Code's definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The legal quagmire began Feb. 12, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's administration began issuing same-sex marriage licenses and performing weddings for gay and lesbian couples at City Hall – about 4,000 in all.

Conservative groups and Attorney General Bill Lockyer – prodded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – demanded that the Supreme Court stop the marriages after the lower courts declined to do so.

The Supreme Court, in stopping the weddings Thursday and saying it would hold a hearing in May or June, avoided the gay marriage issue altogether. The justices announced they would only decide the legal question of whether Newsom had the authority to declare for himself what the law should be – powers Newsom said compelled him to issue the same-sex marriage licenses.

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