For years, conservatives have bemoaned the fact that California is a sort of cultural trend-setter – setting trends that eventually spread east and reverberate nationally.
SAN FRANCISCO (BP) – For years, conservatives have bemoaned the fact that California is a sort of cultural trend-setter – setting trends that eventually spread east and reverberate nationally.
It helped spark the sexual revolution, adopted the nation’s first no-fault divorce law and helped launch the modern-day “gay rights” movement. And while it has broken ground that both conservatives and liberals can applaud – it, for instance, was the first to overturn bans on interracial marriage – few conservatives were celebrating May 15 when the California Supreme Court, by a slim 4-3 margin, ordered the state to legalize “gay marriage.”
California’s high court isn’t the first to hand down such a ruling – Massachusetts’ court owns that distinction – but its impact has the potential to be far more significant, for at least four reasons: The decision was issued in the nation’s most populous state; the court is one of the most, if not the most, influential high courts in the country; the justices placed sexual “orientation” alongside race, sex and religion in protected class status; and, unlike Massachusetts, California has no residency requirements, meaning that same-sex couples from every state can travel to the Golden State, get a marriage license, and then go back to their home state and sue for recognition.
The ruling won’t take effect for 30 days – pro-family groups hope the court will stay its ruling until voters can vote on a constitutional marriage amendment in November – but that wasn’t stopping a jubilant San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and hundreds of homosexuals from celebrating inside city hall.
“As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation,” a smiling Newsom said to loud cheers. “[Gay marriage nationwide is] inevitable. This door’s wide open now. It’s gonna happen, whether you like it or not. This is the future and it’s now [in California].”
Homosexuals elsewhere hope Newsom is right. Catherine Andrews-Looper, pastor of Nashville’s Holy Trinity Community Church, told The Tennessean newspaper, “It’s two states down and 48 more to go.” But she conceded, “And that’s a long way to go.”
California’s decision broke a four-court losing streak by “gay marriage” supporters after losses in the past two years in New York, Washington state, Maryland and New Jersey.
A decision in Connecticut is due any day, and Iowa’s Supreme Court is set to hear a “gay marriage” case this year.
The ruling also means a little-noticed study published last December in the University of California-Davis’ Law Review will get more attention.
As reported by Adam Liptak in The New York Times, the study showed the California Supreme Court to be the nation’s most influential high court. The study examined 65 years of cases and “counted up the number of times the decisions of state high courts were followed in other states.”