Dates in California history important
to
same-sex marriage debate
AP from MercuryNews.com on the Web, March 15, 2005
Some important dates in California's history with same-sex marriage:
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1975: Gov. Jerry Brown signs legislation repealing criminal penalties for adultery, oral sex and sodomy between consenting adults.
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1977: Responding to claims that the state's "gender-neutral" marriage statute left room for gays and lesbians to assert they could wed, the California Legislature amends the Family Code to define marriage as "a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between a man and a woman."
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1999: The Legislature establishes a domestic partner registry giving same-sex couples who register limited rights previously given only to married spouses, including the right to visit each other in the hospital.
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2000: Proposition 22, which further amends the Family Code to state that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California," passes with support from 61 percent of voters.
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2000: Legislature passes a law granting additional benefits to registered domestic partners, including the right to make medical decisions for a partner, the right to use the stepparent adoption process to adopt a partner's children and the right to sue for a partner's wrongful death.
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2002: Domestic partners are granted additional rights under state law, including the right to draft wills for each other and to receive copies of each other's birth and death certificates.
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2003: Gov. Gray Davis signs legislation granting registered domestic partners nearly all the remaining rights and responsibilities available to married spouses under California law. The measure, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2005, requires domestic partners to pay alimony and child support if there is divorce.
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Feb. 12, 2004: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directs city officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Couples from all over the country line up for the chance to wed. In Sacramento, Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, introduces legislation to amend the Family Code, defining marriage as an institution arising out of a civil contract between "two persons."
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March 11, 2004: After four weeks of gay marriages and more than 4,000 wedding licenses issued, the California Supreme Court halts San Francisco's same-sex weddings.
The city and gay advocacy groups respond by suing to overturn the state's marriage laws.
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