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To the Point
Can Same-Sex Marriage Last in California?
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Can Same-Sex Marriage Last in California?

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California's state supreme court says gays and lesbians have the right to marry, a decision that could have an impact in other states and on the presidential campaign. What about the "will of the people" who banned same-sex marriage eight years ago? Will California voters pass another ban this coming November? Also, Myanmar accepts assistance from select nations, and Kentucky and Oregon hold primaries tomorrow, while Obama and Clinton supporters talk peace and McCain cleanses his campaign of active lobbyists.

Banner image: Philip Ray De Blieck, his husband, Rev. Troy Perry, their attorney Gloria Allred, Robin Tyler and Diane Olson (LtoR), the first two couples in California to file a lawsuite challenging the constatutionality of the ban on same gender marriages. Photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

Making News

Pondering the Right to Protect at the UN ()

The death toll from Cyclone Nargis is still rising. Today Myanmar, formerly Burma, agreed to open its doors to medical teams from ten neighboring countries. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will help distribute foreign aid, but the United Nations staff is still barred from the Irawaddy Delta, where it says conditions are "terrible."  Elisabeth Byrs speaks for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva.

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  • Elisabeth Byrs: Spokeswoman, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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Main Topic

Same-Sex Marriage in California ()

Same-sex marriage is legal in California, at least until November, when voters are likely to get the chance to overturn last week's ruling by the state supreme court. The Massachusetts Supreme Court was first, back in 2003, the only other state that's legalized same-sex marriage. But the ruling in California went further, saying that discrimination against homosexuals is the same as racial discrimination. Many gays and lesbians are celebrating the opinion by Chief Justice Ron George, a former prosecutor appointed by a Republican Governor. Does the decision nullify "the will of the people," since a statewide same-sex marriage ban passed overwhelmingly eight years ago? Can the people nullify the court that nullified them? What's the likely impact on other states and the presidential campaign?

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Reporter's Notebook

McCain's Advisors and Democratic Reconciliation ()

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are expected to split tomorrow's primaries in Oregon and Kentucky, but the Washington Post reports that "fundraisers and surrogates" from both camps have been quietly talking about the "inevitable merger." A California political blog says that state's divided convention delegates are "coming together." Meantime, lobbyists are leaving John McCain's campaign to get past what his own spokesman calls "a perception problem." Jennifer Skalka is editor of On Call, political blog of the Hotline and daily briefing posted by the National Journal.

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