The
jubilation
and
excitement
created
by
last
week’s
historic
California
Supreme
Court
ruling
legalizing
same-sex
marriage
is
slowly
giving
way
to
the
sobering
reality
that
state
voters
could
void
gay
unions
via
constitutional
amendment
in
November.
The
fight
over
that
amendment
will
be
costly
—
perhaps
as
much
as
$20
million.
“We
have
to
be
prepared
to
spend
pretty
much
the
same
amount
of
money
per
voter
as
we’ve
spent
in
other
ballot
measures,
which
in
this
case
means
around
$20
million,”
said
Evan
Wolfson,
executive
director
of
Freedom
to
Marry.
Equality
for
All,
a
coalition
of
more
than
three
dozen
organizations
working
to
defeat
the
proposed
amendment,
had
raised
$577,000
of
as
March
31.
More
recent
figures
were
not
available.
Geoff
Kors,
executive
director
of
Equality
California,
said
the
total
was
“just
a
drop
in
the
bucket”
compared
to
what
is
needed
to
win.
“Our
opponents
have
vowed
to
raise
$10
to
$20
million,”
he
said,
“and
we
need
to
at
least
match
them
dollar
for
dollar.”
California last
week
joined
Massachusetts
to
become
the
second
state
to
allow
same-sex
marriages.
In
an
opinion
released
May
15,
the
California
Supreme
Court
concluded,
4-3,
that
“an
individual’s
sexual
orientation
—
like
a
person’s
race
or
gender
—
does
not
constitute
a
legitimate
basis
upon
which
to
deny
or
withhold
legal
rights.”
The
court’s
decision
cannot
be
appealed
but
the
proposed
constitutional
amendment
could
render
it
void.
Californians
are
expected
to
vote
on
the
amendment
this
fall.
Proponents
recently
announced
they
had
obtained
1.1
million
signatures
to
bring
the
issue
to
voters
as
part
of
the
November
ballot.
State
officials
have
yet
to
certify,
based
on
random
sampling,
that
the
signatures
are
valid.
A
decision
is
expected
in
June.
Therese
Stewart,
San
Francisco’s
deputy
city
attorney,
said
it
was
unclear
how
the
amendment
might
affect
couples
that wed
in
California in
the
months
to
come.
She
said
it
was
unknown
whether
the
amendment
would
“retroactively
take
away”
a
gay
Californian’s
right
to
marry,
and
the
question
would
“require
research.”
Amendment
supporters,
however,
said
success
would
overrule
the
California
Supreme
Court’s
decision.
“The
court’s
rationale
for
its
decision
should
prompt
outrage
from
the
majority
of
California’s
citizens,”
said
Ron
Prentice,
chair
of
ProtectMarriage.com.
“In
November,
the
people
will
have
an
opportunity
to
overrule
the
court’s
decision
by
passing
a
constitutional
amendment
—
and
California’s
voters
must
respond
by
voting.”
It
was
unclear
this
week
how
the
proposed
amendment
would
sit
with
voters.
But
an
analysis
of
past
poll
results,
prepared
by
the
American
Enterprise
Institute
for
Public
Policy
Research,
shows
a
growing
number
of
Californians
think
gay
couples
should
have
marriage
rights.
The
number
of
people
who
told
pollsters
that
“gay
marriage
should
be
valid”
rose
from
27
percent
in
1996
to
39
percent
in
2005.
Wolfson
said
the
polls
show
that
marriage
rights
supporters
will
“have
to
work”
to
win
in
November,
but
a
victory
would
mean
“we
will
have
won
the
war.”
“Just
as
Gettysburg
did
not
end
the
Civil
War,
there
was
much
toil
and
blood
and
fighting
still
to
do,
in
retrospect,
we
can
see
that
Gettysburg
was
the
turning
point,”
he
said.
“California
is
Gettysburg.”
For
that
reason,
Wolfson
said,
the
importance
of
defeating
the
proposed
amendment
cannot
be
overstated.
“This
is
the
single
most
important
gay
priority
this
year,”
he
said.
“The
stakes
literally
couldn’t
be
higher.”
Gay
civil
rights
activists
lauded
the
court
for
granting
full
marriage
rights
to
California’s
estimated
1.3
million
gay,
lesbian
and
bisexual
residents.
“This
is
a
historic
day
for
the
state
of
California
and
a
long-awaited
day
for
the
plaintiffs
in
this
case
and
their
families,”
said
Joe
Solmonese,
Human
Rights
Campaign
president.
“The
Calif-ornia
Supreme
Court
has
made
clear
that
same-sex
couples
in
committed
relationships
and
their
families
deserve
the
same
level
of
respect
afforded
to
opposite-sex
couples.”
HRC
announced
Wednesday
it
is
donating
$500,000
to
fight
the
proposed
amendment.
Rea
Carey,
the
National
Gay
&
Lesbian
Task
Force’s
acting
executive
director,
echoed
Solmonese.
“This
is
an
extraordinary
victory
for
Californians
and
all
Americans
who
hold
fairness
and
opportunity
as
fundamental
American
values,”
she
said.
“Today,
once
again,
California
is
leading
the
way
in
affirming
the
inherent
dignity
of
all
people.
Today,
in
our
hearts,
we
are
all
Californians.”
Gov.
Arnold
Schwarzenegger,
a
Republican,
said
in
a
statement
he
would
uphold the
court’s
decision.
“I
respect
the
court’s
decision
and
as
governor,
I
will
uphold
its
ruling,”
he
said.
“Also,
as
I
have
said
in
the
past,
I
will
not
support
an
amendment
to
the
constitution
that
would
overturn
this
state
Supreme
Court
ruling.”
Despite
that
looming
threat,
gays
in
California
and
beyond
savored
the
win.
“I
don’t
think
there
are
quite
words
to
express
the
joy
and
euphoria
that
not
just
myself
but
millions
of
people
are
feeling
today,”
Kors
said
May
15.
“It
is
such
a
tremendous
victory.”
Filed
by
16
same-sex
couples,
two
pro-gay
groups,
...
