Can same-sex couples legally wed in California?

ABC News predicts that Proposition 3 in California, which provides a route to legalize matrimony for same-sex couples, will indeed pass.

Ever since San Francisco initially began issuing marriage licenses back in 2004, the course towards legitimizing marriage for same-sex couples throughout California has experienced numerous legal peaks and valleys.

Following the subsequent ruling that invalidated those unions, the California Supreme Court then legalized marriages for same-sex couples during 2008; however, only a few months later, voters throughout the state approved Proposition 8, which defined matrimony inside the state constitution as existing between a man and a woman.

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Two years later, a federal court determined that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, and subsequently, during 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized matrimony for same-sex couples across the entire nation.

Nevertheless, the specific language included inside the California Constitution as a result of Proposition 8 has never actually been taken out.

State Senator Scott Wiener expresses concern that the U.S. Supreme Court may potentially overturn its own 2015 ruling regarding marriage for same-sex couples, in a similar manner to how it overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision that had ensured the constitutional entitlement to abortion.

"Back in 2008, the voters implemented a ban concerning LGBT marriage within the constitution. That particular language remains present to this day. While it isn't currently enforceable, existing instead as a dead letter because the Supreme Court affirms individuals possess a fundamental entitlement to marry, should the court opt to reverse its stance on same-sex marriage, that dead-letter language could potentially spring back to life," expressed State Senator Scott Wiener, also a co-author of Proposition 3, which seeks to firmly establish the entitlement to marry within the state constitution.

That lifeless phrase within the constitution states that "only the union between a man and a woman shall be considered valid or recognized in California as marriage."

Proposition 3 intends to get rid of that specific phrase and substitute it with the assertion that "The entitlement to marry constitutes a fundamental right."

It offers protection against discrimination within housing and civil services for multi-partner families, individuals involved in asexual relationships, and also single parents accompanied by multi-generational households.

For Oakland inhabitants Stephisha and Viveca Ycoy-Walton, Proposition 3 holds significant personal meaning.

"We constantly live with apprehension for the well-being of others, mindful of the potential for such occurrences, as we've personally witnessed it," states Viveca Ycoy-Walton. She tied the knot with her partner back in 2013, subsequent to the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of a lawsuit intended to reinstate California's prohibition on same-sex marriage, thereby reestablishing the entitlement to same-sex marriage within the state.

"It might appear as a mere formality, but that precise formality constitutes the critical divergence between someone's joyous conclusion and profound disappointment accompanied by rejection," Viveca states.

The couple actively engages in campaigning for Proposition 3, striving to guarantee that the entitlement to marriage for each and every individual is firmly enshrined inside the state constitution.

"Formalities possess significance. Were they devoid of importance, the provision would no longer persist. Furthermore, were they inconsequential, we wouldn't find it necessary to struggle for its removal," asserts Stephisha Ycoy-Walton.

Being legally wed enabled them to include both of their names listed on their son's birth certificate, something that was instrumental in offering him reassurance whenever he faced teasing at school.

"Someone informed me that I was adopted on account of possessing two mothers," Karter Ycoy-Walton stated, feeling confused by the other kids' taunts.

Witnessing his birth certificate bearing both of his mothers' names served as a comforting and reassuring affirmation.