As a Marriage and Family therapist, and Clinical Sexologist, I am thrilled to use this forum to address the news of this week, honoring and acknowledging Same Sex marriages in California.
In matters of love, marriage and relationship, we are all Gods children. This is spoken from a spiritual stance, not one of religiosity. My heart sings with joy and happiness for this decision in allowing full marriage rights for same-sex partners. Hello 21st century!!! May we move onward and forward.

In love and light...
Dr. Arlene G. Krieger

As quoted in Wikipedia, May 15, 2008:

"The status of same-sex marriage in California, known for its large gay communities and generally liberal political climate, has been an intensely debated political issue since the mid-1990s.
On May 15, 2008, the Supreme Court of California overturned the ban on same-sex marriage. The four-to-three decision made California the second state, behind Massachusetts, to allow full marriage rights for same-sex partners.

California had already permitted domestic-partner registration, a right similar to civil unions found in other states.[4] This grants "same-sex couples all state-level rights and obligations of marriage - in areas such as inheritance, income tax, insurance and hospital visitation" but does not apply to "federal-level rights of marriage that cannot be granted by states."

As quoted:
nytimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO - Gay and lesbian couples in San Francisco rejoiced on Thursday over a State Supreme Court decision affirming their right to marry even as political leaders on both sides of the issue girded for an extended fight over the ruling in the courts and at the ballot box.

Hundreds of people showed up at San Francisco City Hall, including some women in wedding dresses and at least one carrying an open bottle of Champagne.

"It's just amazing to feel like I am a full citizen - I am not a second-class citizen," said Christmas Leubrie, a nurse, who was with her partner, Alice Heimsoth, across the street from City Hall on the steps of the Supreme Court Building.

Gay rights organizations said the decision was a watershed moment for their movement, which has found greater societal acceptance in recent decades but continued opposition in some quarters toward same-sex marriage.

A bit of History:

California becomes the second state to allow same-sex unions, after Massachusetts. Forty-one states have laws prohibiting same-sex marriage, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a nonpartisan institute, while 27 states have constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage or defining marriage as a union between a man and a women.
Florida will vote on a constitutional amendment this fall, and Arizona is also considering putting the issue on the ballot.

The Thursday decision was cause for celebration for Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, who set off a national debate over gay marriage in 2004 when he ordered the county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. More than 4,000 couples - from 46 states - married in 2004, though those unions were later invalidated by the courts.