California legalizes same-sex marriage

"We determine that the language of section 300 limiting the designation of marriage to a union 'between a man and a woman' is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute, and that the remaining statutory language must be understood as making the designation of marriage available both to opposite-sex and same-sex couples," the Court ruled.

Given the choice betwen allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry or disallowing all couples to marry, the court chose the former. "Extending the designation of marriage to same-sex couples, rather than denying it to all couples, is the equal protection remedy that is most consistent with our state's general legislative policy and preference," the Court said.

California's high court is the second state high court to rule in favor of ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, according to Freedom to Marry, a national advocacy group on behalf of marriage equality. 

"With this ruling, our country has the opportunity to continue seeing how families are helped and no one is hurt by ending exclusion from marriage, just as other countries around the world have done," the group said. 

Massachusetts ruled on the case more than 4 years ago.

The decision, announced at 1 p.m. Eastern time, caused some confusion with cable television news broadcasts. CNN read parts of the opinion to a legal analyst on the telephone, which seemed to indicate that the high court had disallowed marriage. At the same time, however, NBC correspondent Pete Williams reported on MSNBC that California had legalized same-sex marriage.

The California Assembly has twice approved legislation that would allow same-sex marriage, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed those measures.

The issue of same-sex marriage came up during the 2004 presidential campaign after the state of Massachusetts legalized the practice. All three presidential candidates have said they are opposed to same-sex marriage, but Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama support civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. 

[Read the full decision here (PDF).]

Pictured above: Alvin Williams and Nigel Simon, who were plaintiffs in another marriage equality case.