CA Court Upholds Domestic Partnership Act

September 9, 2004

A California law granting same-sex couples nearly identical legal rights and responsibilities as married spouses Wednesday was ruled valid.

The law, which is slated to go into effect January 1, 2005 was passed by the Legislature last year and signed into law by then-Gov. Gray Davis last year.

Lawyers for two sets of plaintiffs opposed to marriage rights for gay couples sued to have the law thrown out, claiming it violates the spirit and intent of a 2000 ballot initiative approved by voters that holds California will only recognize unions between a man and a woman as valid.

One suit was filed by the late Senator Pete Knight and the other by Randy Thomasson of Campaign for California Families.

The ruling today is a victory for the tens of thousands of California families headed by lesbian or gay couples in committed relationships who will finally have access to most, but not all, of the rights and protections available to married couples under state law, said Geoffrey Kors, Executive Director of Equality California.

In his ruling Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren E. McMaster said that there is nothing in the language of Proposition 22 that restrict[s] the grant of rights and benefits to persons who have registered as domestic partners, even if those rights closely parallel the rights enjoyed by married couples.

McMaster said that although the new domestic partnership law provides many new rights and responsibilities to registered domestic partners, thosec partnerships are still not the same as or equal to marriage.

While 'marriage' consists of rights and duties, the institution is not solely defined by those components, McMaster said.

Hopefully, the California Legislature will pass the Marriage License Non-Discrimination Act next year which will end the remaining discrimination these families still face, said Kors following the ruling.

We are extremely relieved by the Court's decision today, said Johnny Symons and William Rogers, one of the 12 couples who intervened in the lawsuit to defend the new domestic partnership law. As parents, we are doing everything in our power to protect our two young children. But without the protections in AB 205, our family will not have the same security as other families.

The couples participating in the lawsuit include a member of the state legislature, state court judges, a filmmaker, a schoolteacher, retirees and a clergy member.

We are very pleased that the Court upheld the Legislature's constitutional power to protect all of California's families. The Court correctly ruled that granting legal protections to gay and lesbian couples doesn't make them married, said David Codell, lead attorney for the intervenors.

When it goes into effect the law will provide registered domestic partners in California with many additional basic protections and responsibilities including: community property, mutual responsibility for debt, parenting rights and obligations such as custody and support, and the ability to claim a partner's body after death. The law does not allow for joint tax filing and certain other protections under state law, and does not provide access to over 1,000 federal protections that married couples enjoy.