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The San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings took place between February 12 and March 11, 2004, after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directed the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and a number of interest groups sued to end the practice. About 4,000 such licenses were issued before the California Supreme Court ordered a halt to the practice on March 11. On August 12, 2004, the California Supreme Court voided all of the licenses that had been issued in February and March. The legal dispute over the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples led to the 2008 ''In re Marriage Cases'' ruling by the California Supreme Court, which legalized same-sex marriage in California. ==Licenses and legal challenge== Recently elected Mayor Gavin Newsom and other city officials began issuing marriage licenses in San Francisco, on February 12, 2004. Newsom asserted the California Constitution's equal protection clause gave him authority to grant same-sex marriage licenses. He said he was inspired to allow same-sex marriages after hearing President George Bush describe the need to prevent same-sex marriage, possibly by a federal constitutional amendment, in his State of the Union address. The previous November, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court had issued an order for same-sex marriages to begin in that state in May 2004. City officials said they had officiated at more than 900 weddings within the first three days. On February 13, two organizations, the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Campaign for California Families, filed actions in San Francisco Superior Court seeking an immediate stay to prohibit the City from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.〔(''In re Marriage Cases'', California Supreme Court, S147999 )〕 The court refused to issue an immediate stay on February 20. On February 19, while defending its issuance of licenses in one court, the city initiated its own lawsuit against the state. It charged that the state statute defining marriage violated the state constitution by excluding same-sex couples. On February 20, 2004, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered state Attorney General Bill Lockyer to "obtain a definitive judicial resolution" of the controversy. Speaking that same day at the state Republican convention, Schwarzenegger said:〔 Lockyer responded by acknowledging his office had to defend state law "and allow the courts to determine whether the city has acted illegally", but said his political belief were sympathetic to issuing the licenses:〔 The Attorney General and a group of taxpayers filed separate petitions asking the California Supreme Court to issue an original writ of mandate. They asserted that the city's actions were unlawful and warranted the court's immediate intervention. On March 9, the San Jose City Council, by a vote of 8-1, agreed to recognize any same-sex marriages of its employees performed in other jurisdictions. On March 11, the Supreme Court of California issued a stay ordering the County of San Francisco "to enforce the existing marriage statutes and to refrain from issuing marriage licenses not authorized by such provisions" pending further review by the court. Mayor Newsom agreed to abide by the order. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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