California ruling reignites debate over gay marriage

THE CALIFORNIA Supreme Court Thursday opened the door to same-sex marriages, reigniting a hot-button social issue amid a U.S. presidential campaign so far dominated by economic issues and the war in Iraq. The ruling makes California the second state, after Massachusetts, to give homosexual couples the right to marry. But lawyers said the state's influence and size make the decision the most important legal victory to date for proponents of same-sex marriage.