Gay Marriage Will Be Legal in California

California same-sex couples looking to get married: start your engines, and get ready to head down to your local city hall or church to tie the knot. That's because Judge Vaughn Walker, who last week declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional, has lifted the stay on the case, meaning that California is yet again in the marriage equality business.

UPDATE: Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling (available at the end of this post) says that same-sex couples won't be able to officially get married until August 18, 2010. The stay has been lifted, but won't take effect for another six days.

Scores of couples lined up at San Francisco's courthouse, as well as in Los Angeles and other cities throughout California, hoping that Judge Walker would lift the stay. Officials in San Francisco and Los Angeles even allowed same-sex couples to fill out marriage paperwork ahead of time, in anticipation of Judge Walker's decision.

Evan Wolfson from Freedom to Marry praised Judge Walker's decision, announcing that same-sex marriage will be returning to California.

"We are witnessing a growing consensus in America that loving and committed same-sex couples deserve the same respect and the same rights as everyone else," Wolfson said. "Americans on all sides of the aisle, from Laura Bush to Bill Clinton, have embraced the reality that the freedom to marry helps families, while hurting no one.  As same-sex couples in California today celebrate their love, commitment, and equal protection under the law, a majority of Californians and a majority of Americans support their right to marry."

Judge Walker announced last night that his decision on whether the stay on the case would be lifted would come down today, teasing activists for more than three hours as Twitter pages were refreshed and ustream video coverage focused on activists outside the San Francisco courthouse. Tour buses drove past the courthouse with crowds chanting their support for marriage equality, while same-sex couples on the ground anxiously waited for those magical words: the stay has been lifted; please go ahead and get married. Turns out they'll have to wait until August 18 to do so.

Several California officials, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown, had previously announced their support for allowing same-sex marriages to begin immediately in California. Officials in California were no doubt ready and raring to go. Defendants in the case can now appeal (and will appeal) to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and they could issue another hold on this case.

Reports on the ground, including from Change.org's own Meghan Nesbitt, described a truly anxiety-filled scene. Gay couples lined up waiting to hear the decision, while straight couples were allowed to waltz into the courthouse and get married. The image of that type of separation should be enough to move even the hardest of hearts to support marriage equality.

But thankfully, starting on August 18, gay couples don't have to wait any longer.

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Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.