The California Supreme Court, striking down two state laws that had limited marriages to unions between a man and a woman, ruled late last week that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. The court’s 4-to-3 decision, drawing on a ruling six decades ago that struck down the state’s ban on interracial marriage, would make California only the second state, after Massachusetts, to allow same-sex marriages.

The decision, which becomes effective in 30 days unless the court grants a stay, was greeted with celebrations at San Francisco City Hall, where thousands of same-sex marriages were thrown out by the courts fourCalifornia’s constitution to ban same-sex marriages and overturn the decision. Same-sex marriage has been a highly contentious issue in past presidential and Congressional elections, but it was not immediately clear what role the ruling would play in this year’s elections. The Democratic and Republican candidates for president have all said that they believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. Given the historic, cultural, symbolic and constitutional significance of marriage, Chief Justice Ronald M. George wrote for the majority, the state cannot limit its availability to opposite-sex couples. “In view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship,” he wrote, “the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.”

There are about 110,000 same-sex couples in California, according to census data, and the state has a strong domestic partnership law giving couples who register nearly all of the benefits and burdens of heterosexual marriage. But the majority of the justices said that is not enough. The court left open the possibility that the Legislature could use a term other than “marriage” to denote state-sanctioned unions so long as that term was used across the board — for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples. Governor Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said in a statement that he respected the court’s ruling and did not support a constitutional amendment to overturn it. Skip to next paragraph years ago. It was denounced by religious and conservative groups, who pledged to support an initiative proposed for the November ballot that would amend