CA Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

     SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The California Supreme Court has overturned
a ban on gay marriage, paving the way for California to become the
second state where gay and lesbian residents can marry.
     The ruling overturns a California voter-approved law that
defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
     The cases were brought by the city of San Francisco, gay and
lesbian couples and gay rights groups in 2004. The court had halted
San Francisco’s same-sex wedding march that took place at Mayor
Gavin Newsom’s direction.
     Several of those original plaintiffs stood on the courthouse
steps today, cheering and weeping with joy as the decision came
down.
     Mayor Newsom’s spokesman, Nathan Ballard, sent out a two-word
text message to the mayor’s staff upon hearing the decision.
     “We won!” it read.