Gay marriage is legal question

One thing is clear in the nation's gay-marriage debate — the question is as much a legal issue as it is a political one.

It started with last June's U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring a Texas anti-sodomy law as unconstitutional. In his dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia worried the ruling would pave the way for legalized same-sex marriage. Since then, the argument has almost always returned to a question of the courts and constitutional law:

• In November, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the state's constitution required gays and lesbians to be allowed to marry. It clarified its ruling in early February, saying only marriage — not a replacement institution such as civil unions — would suffice.

• In San Francisco, when Mayor Gavin Newsom opened City Hall to gays and lesbians seeking marriage licenses, conservative groups responded by heading straight to the courts. The city itself is suing California, calling its gay-marriage ban unconstitutional. San Francisco filed briefs with the state Supreme Court on Friday defending the licenses. They argue that the state constitution does not require local officials to obey laws they see as unconstitutional.

• On. Feb. 24, just as President Bush was endorsing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning gay marriage, the Utah House approved a joint resolution that seeks to do the same with the Beehive State's constitution. Approved in the Senate this week, the proposed amendment will be on November's general-election ballot. If Utah voters give their OK, it could become part of the state's constitution by January 2005. A bill that would put the ban in statute, but not in the constitution, has passed both houses and is on Gov. Olene Walker's desk.

• Multnomah County, Ore., began issuing same-sex marriage licenses this week. Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski warned the marriages may not be legal and requested a legal opinion from Oregon's attorney general. Conservatives said they would file a lawsuit to stop the marriages.

• Most recently, Wisconsin and Kansas lawmakers Friday moved ahead in trying to amend their states' constitutions to ban gay marriages or civil unions. A similar measure died in Idaho. Also on Friday, a state judge barred the mayor of New Paltz, N.Y., from performing more same-sex marriages for a month.