In the US, one hears a lot about 'states' rights.' Short version, there has always been debate about how much jurisdiction the federal government has, versus how much is alloted to states. There are differing opinions about whether marriage belongs to the jurisdiction of states or to the federal government.
In CA, a state court overturned previous legislation (I believe it was legislation formerly passed by voters, is that right everyone?) prohibiting marriage between members of the same sex. That was last May. In Nov, voters passed an amendment to the CA constitution eliminating the right (recently defended by the state court) for same sex couples to marry in CA.
Soon, we get to find out whether or not this amendment will be interpreted to nullify the nearly 20,000 same sex marriages that occurred between last July and last November.
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Never linger too long with the ignorant,
throw stones at their talk.
Walk only with the lovers,
the mirror of the soul gets rusty when
dipped in muddy water.
-Rumi
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