California annuls gay marriages
California's Supreme Court has annulled about 4,000 gay marriages that took place in San Francisco.
The court ruled that San Francisco's mayor had overstepped his authority by issuing same-sex marriage licences earlier this year.
Thousands of same-sex couples were married in the city between 12 February and 11 March, when the court issued an injunction halting the wedding spree.
Gay marriage is a controversial issue in the US.
The marriages had virtually no legal value, but they angered conservative groups, which launched legal challenges to nullify them.
The first couple to receive a marriage licence in San Francisco, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, expressed sadness at the judges' 5-2 ruling.
"Del is 83 years old and I am 79," Ms Lyon said. "After being together for more than 50 years, it is a terrible blow to have the rights and protections of marriage taken away from us."
San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newsom, gave the go-ahead to issue marriage licences, saying current legislation was discriminatory.
His spokesman said at the time that Mayor Newsom was only following "the state constitution, which explicitly outlaws discrimination of any kind".
Jatkuu linkissä http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3560050.stm
Hohhoijaa. Askel eteenpäin, ja kaksi takaisin taakse. Sääli vaan, että tulevat presidentinvaalit eivät tuo muutosta seksuaalivähemmistöjen oikeuksiin, sillä myös Kerry vastustaa homoavioliittoja. Vaiettu, selkästi länsimaalaisimpia, liberaaleja arvoja edustava Ralph Nader on saanut ikävä kyllä vähiten kannatusta USA:ssa.
