History of marriage in California

While the Native Americans of California did not document their culture in the same way western civilization did, we still have a great deal of knowledge from archaeological evidence as well as the earliest records of the Spanish missions.

[3] While the Franciscan Missions strived to incorporate the native California Indians into their fold, they worked hard to eliminate all marriage and family customs the Spanish Catholic Church disapproved of or found repugnant.

Spanish Soldiers and settlers of a patriarchal colonial society put native woman in a vulnerable state.

Called Josefa, after her grandmother, she was the eldest of thirteen children born to Maria Ygnacia Lopez and Joaquin Victor Carrillo.

Instead of marrying another Californian, Carrillo fell in love with American merchant seaman, Henry Delano Fitch.

It is believed that the Governor was enraged by Carrillo's choice of a man who refused to naturalize as a citizen, as well as rumored smuggling activity.

Legislation infringing such rights must be based upon more than prejudice and must be free from oppressive discrimination to comply with the constitutional requirements of due process and equal protection of the laws.

[12]While the state required records be kept on marriage certificates and contracts as early as 1851, it wasn't until 1858 that any further information was kept, such as births, divorce and death.

Ronald Reagan signed legislation making civil nuptials gender-neutral under the law as part of the Women's Liberation Movement in California.

Meanwhile, the California legislature twice passed, and twice received vetoes from governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on, bills that would have legalized same-sex marriages in the state.

Applying strict scrutiny to the state's discrimination between heterosexual and other citizens, marriage was found to be a fundamental right that may not be denied based on sexual orientation, and the relevant laws were struck down.

Social conservatives and other dissenters capitalized on the case to renew its thrice-unsuccessful push to amend the Constitution of California to restrict marriage to being between opposite-sex couples, and with unprecedented support from the Catholic and LDS churches, succeeded by a slim margin of votes.

Same-sex marriages resumed two days later when the Ninth Circuit lifted the stay on the district court's ruling.