Government documents

City and County of San Francisco v. State of California (A110449 [Super. Ct. S.F. City & County, No. CGC-04-429539]); Tyler v. State of California (A110450 [Super. Ct. L.A. County, No. BS-088506]); Woo v. Lockyer (A110451 [Super. Ct. S.F. City & County, No. CPF-04-504038]); Clinton v. State of California (A110463 [Super. Ct. S.F. City & County, No. CGC-04-429548]); Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund v. City and County of San
Francisco (A110651 [Super. Ct. S.F. City & County, No. CPF-04-503943]); Campaign for California Families v. Newsom (A110652 [Super. Ct. S.F. City & County, No. CGC-04-428794]). May 16, 2008.

The ruling on these six consolidated appeals would culminate into a precedent that legalized gay marriage in California. This decision came just after New York made a similar ruling. The California court ruled in a 4-3 decision that "An individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights." This document is highly important because in presents logical arguments in favor of same-sex marriages. At nearly 30 pages long, it also cites a plethora of court cases that influenced this ruling. Besides the legalization of gay marriage in New York, this ruling was seen as one of the biggest events of the year. To read more about the decision, click here.