California Supreme Court Helps Bend The Long Arc Of History Toward Justice

It's really a great day for California.

In a monumental victory for the gay rights movement, the California Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved ban on gay marriage Thursday in a ruling that would allow same-sex couples in the nation's biggest state to tie the knot.

Domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage, the justices ruled 4-3 in striking down the ban.

Outside the courthouse, gay marriage supporters cried and cheered as the news spread.

Jeanie Rizzo, one of the plaintiffs, called Pali Cooper, her partner of 19 years, and asked, "Pali, will you marry me?"

"This is a very historic day. This is just such freedom for us," Rizzo said. "This is a message that says all of us are entitled to human dignity."

If it were up to me, government would be completely out of the marriage business. They could stop penalizing single people for being single with tax incentives for married folks and return that savings to everyone broadly. And the restrictions on hospital visits and health care dependents and next of kin are frankly weird. But if you're going to bestow those benefits on married couples then you have to bestow them on gay couples. This is a basic civil right and nobody in our country should be treated like a second-class citizen.

There's going to be a "defense of marriage" constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would vacate this ruling and the court would not be able to change it. So there's a LOT of work to do to keep the momentum going. But Digby is right: this is a situation where the youth movement can make a difference in this state.

This is one state where the huge youth turnout could really make a tangible difference in real people's lives immediately. If they come out in the numbers we expect in November, I believe we will defeat this on the ballot, no matter how many reactionary wingnuts get excited about it.

It's fitting that in an election year where we are dealing head on with all these issues of race and sex that we're going to have a showdown on gay marriage in the most populous state in the union. The chances have never been greater to defeat the forces of bigotry and discrimination. It's a risk, but there will probably never be a better time to take it. Bring it on.

I also think this will help the entire Democratic ballot - that's right - in November in California. The Yacht Party will rue the day they pushed wedge issues like this. A good day all around.