I just read the Wall Street Journal article about the CA Supreme Court decision published today overturning the ban on same sex marriage. Having read a good portion of the decision, I found this stated in the decision:

Furthermore, in contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term 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. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite sex couples.

Basically the decision goes on to point out that just calling a same sex relationship a “civil union” and an opposite sex relationship “marriage” violates the CA constitution. A dissenting opinion pointed out that society has always placed restrictions on marriage, not just same sex marriages but incestuous and polygamous relationships as well. The decision also equates sexual orientation with one’s gender or even race.