Same-sex marriage in California

The California Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, has overturned the state's statutory ban on same-sex marriage.  The fact that the state already allows same-sex couples to enter into domestic partnerships appears to have played a significant role in the court's decision.  Here's an excerpt:

[I]n contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation, and, more generally, 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. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.