There was dancing in the streets of California this week as the state’s Supreme Court ruled the state's ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. But the win has pre-empted other states to push for legislation to prevent a similar ruling.

The seven-member panel voted 4-3 to support the argument that restricting marriage to men and women was discriminatory.

The court said: "Our state now recognises that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person, and responsibly to care for and raise children, does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and more generally that an individual's sexual orientation – like a person's race or gender – does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights.”

California’s gay couples had previously been granted many of the same legal rights as married couples if they entered into a ‘domestic partnership’.

One of the many who pursued the case, Stuart Gaffney, told The Age he and his partner were filled with joy.

"Today is the happiest and most romantic day of our lives. We have waited over 21 years for this day."

Several celebrity couples are expected to tie the knot, including Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, and  George Takei, best known for playing Mr Sulu on Star Trek who will wed his long-time partner Brad Altman.

In 2000 California voters approved a law which declared legal marriages could only be between a man and a woman, a move which sparked a flurry of campaigns and legal activity over the next few years. In 2004 the City of San Francisco issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of state laws, claiming those laws violated equal rights legislation. Another court order later voided those licences and marriages. In 2005 the San Francisco Superior Court found there was no justification for refusing to allow marriages based on gender, but this again was overturned by a narrow majority in the California Court of Appeal in 2006.

Following the California ruling conservative politicians in Arizona and North Carolina are pushing for amendments to their state constitutions to prevent similar rulings. An amendment set to enter the Arizona Senate defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

California now joins Massachusetts in providing equal marriage in the USA. Gay marriage already exists in Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain and is expected in Norway and Sweden soon.

by CATHY ANDERSON