Same Sex Marriages Can Resume in California,Court Rules -Friday June 28,2013

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday June 28,2013 that same-sex marriages can resume in California, a move that the Supreme Court paved the way for on Wednesday June 26,2013

Three judges on the appeals court made it possible for local governments to issue marriage certificates for gay and lesbian couples with a few words: "The stay in the above matter is dissolved effective immediately."

With the court's action, counties can now begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

Marriage commissioner Jared Scherer, left, officiates as Pam Shaheen, center, marries Mary Beth Gabriel at City Hall in San Francisco, Friday, June 28, 2013

The lead plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned California's same-sex marriage ban tied the knot at San Francisco City Hall on Friday June 28,2013 about an hour after a federal appeals court freed same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses for the first time in 4 1/2 years.

State Attorney General Kamala Harris presided at the wedding of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier as hundreds of supporters looked on and cheered. 

Note

• California's SC struck down the State's Ban on Same-Sex Marriage in May 2008, ruling that the state's constitution gives "this basic civil right to (marry to) all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples."

• But months later, 52% of voters backed Proposition 8 to once again restrict marriages so that they can only be between a man and a woman.The measure put gay and lesbian marriages on hold in the state, though lawsuits followed.

• A federal appeals court later ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, though it still issued a stay on same-sex marriages until the U.S. Supreme Court could weigh in.

• That happened in a 5-4 decision Wednesday June 26,2013