And so it begins...

The case that sparked off the latest round of gay-marriage debate has been heard by the California Supreme Court and been struck down.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3560050.stm

However, it seems that the court ruled that the Mayor did not have authority to issue such licenses, and did not rule on the constitutionality of the law banning same-sex marriage.

The court did not resolve whether the California Constitution would permit a same-sex marriage, ruling instead on the narrow issue of whether local officials could bypass state judicial and legislative branches.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/08/12/national1326EDT0587.DTL

It seems that the Court is not commenting on the coming case, and the State Legislature is remaining mum on the issue. Wisely so, since it could be a year or two before it gets to the Supreme Court, and a lot can happen in that time. Perhaps Kerry will make it. Perhaps November will bring the Senate back to the Democrats. Perhaps Bush will win a second term and a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage will be circulating State legislatures looking for approval. Hard to say.

But the marriages themselves are annulled. Even if the Supreme Court decides that the law is unconstitutional, the marriages already performed won't count.