In California, gay marriage goes back to the starting gate

In California, gay marriage goes back to the starting gate




By LISA LEFF
Associated Press Writer

December 20, 2004, 6:25 AM EST

SAN FRANCISCO -- After a coast-to-coast airing in family rooms, courtrooms, the Oval Office and polling places, the debate over same-sex marriages returns this week to the city where an exuberant, but short-lived gay wedding march inspired a flurry of imitators and detractors.

A trial judge in San Francisco is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday in a pair of lawsuits that seek to put California on par with Massachusetts, the only state where gays and lesbians can legally wed. The lawsuits seek to have the state's one-man, one-woman marriage law declared unconstitutional.

Judge Richard Kramer's courtroom is only the first stop in what is expected to be a yearlong odyssey that ultimately will reach the state's highest court.

Advocates on both sides of the gay marriage divide say much is at stake in the outcome, especially because of California's influence. It has more same-sex couples than any other state, according to the 2000 Census.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--gaymarriage1220dec20,0,7372377.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire