California Supremes legalize same-sex "marriage"

The California Supreme Court today concluded that California law discriminates again couples who enter into same-sex unions by failing to call those unions "marriages." For couples who take the required legal steps, such unions are called "Domestic Partnerships" under California law. The Supreme Court argues that although domestic partners have nearly identical rights to married people under California law, they are discriminated against because the term "marriage" is not applied to their "partnership."

What the decision will mean isn't clear, at least to this old fool. Presumably, the Domestic Partnership law is now invalid. Apparently, local governments will have to grant marriage licenses to any two people who apply for one providing they've fulfilled requirements that apply to heterosexual couples (like age, blood tests, etc.) Once they get the marriage certificate, presumably, licensed same-sex couples can file joint California income tax returns. But federal law doesn't recognize same-sex marriages so they must file as unmarried persons for federal purposes.

The Court's opinion is 172 pages long and contains lots of superfluos analysis that concludes that marriages are about loving relationships and raising children. The Court concludes that the ability to procreate is not a requirement of marriage.