California should allow gay marriage-att'y general

[steve2470]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/gaymarriage-california-idUSN0117235220110302

SAN FRANCISCO, March 1 (Reuters) - California's attorney general urged a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday to permit gay marriages while it considers whether to overturn the state's ban on same-sex weddings.

The move follows a decision last week by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration that it would no longer defend the 15-year-old U.S. law defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, a major policy shift in favor of gay rights.

Attorney General Kamala Harris, in arguments filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asked the court to dismiss its order prohibiting gay marriages in the most populous U.S. state while a lawsuit over California's ban unfolds.

California voters had approved the ban in 2008 by endorsing a statewide initiative known as Proposition 8. But last year U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco ruled it was unconstitutional.