The cases "educated the court significantly, and they got the court thinking about the families that gay people form," said Jon W. Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal.
Gay rights advocates had long believed that putting the question of gay marriage to the courts prematurely could set their movement back. Newsom's 2004 decision to marry same-sex couples -- a move that took many gay and lesbian groups by surprise -- guaranteed that the marriage debate would end up in the courts.
The activists were careful in choosing which cases to press. Two prominent plaintiffs in the legal battle for marriage rights, for example, were Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. They had been together more than half a century; Martin died this year.
In the time it took for the cases to climb from the trial court to an appeals court and finally the high court, the Legislature twice approved same-sex marriage bills, only to have the bills vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said courts should decide the issue.
The high court's decision came on May 15, in a 4-3 ruling written by George. The majority gave same-sex couples the right to marry, and California's became the first state high court in the country to give sexual orientation the same legal protections as race and gender.
Even if Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, passes in November, most of the other rights and protections of the last decade will remain.
But the loss of marriage rights, which carries a powerful symbolic weight, would be a painful setback to the gay rights movement.
"This is a watershed because it gives a chance to give an up or down approval of the direction taken," said McReynolds of the conservative Pacific Justice Institute. He hopes that things have "finally reached a point where millions of people in this state have had enough."
Advocates for gay rights say the momentum is on their side. They are hoping the courts, like the Legislature, will continue to be sensitive to the concerns of gays and lesbians.
Gay rights activist Kors knows one way to help ensure this: Press for more gay men and lesbians on the bench.
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maura.dolan@latimes.com
jessica.garrison@latimes.com
