Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
6-1-2010
Abstract
This chapter will appear in the book, Women and the Law Stories, to be published by Foundation Press (Elizabeth Schneider and Stephanie Wildman, eds.) in fall 2010. The chapter provides historical context for the groundbreaking decision in In re Marriage Cases, which, for a time at least, provided marriage equality for same-sex couples in the State of California. The authors discuss the development of the state constitution, the extension of its equality provisions to protect women, the California Supreme Court’s historic ruling in 1948 that extended marriage equality to interracial couples, and the state’s unique history in the advancement of lesbian and gay rights. Woven throughout the chapter are the stories of couples who fought for the right to marry the person of their choice. The story ends, however, with the acknowledgment that the passage of Proposition 8 created a stark Pirandello-like absurdity of having something that was real in one moment appear to dissolve in the next moment. The chapter closes with the observation that the true ending of the story of marriage equality in California is not yet known.
Automated Citation
Jean C. Love and Patricia A. Cain,
Six Cases in Search of a Decision: The Story of In re Marriage Cases
(2010),
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/facpubs/617