U. S. top court paves way for gay marriage in California





WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The U. S. Supreme Court on Wednesday paved the way for gay marriage in California but sidestepped a broad ruling that would affect the whole country by saying it could not decide a closely watched case on the constitutionality of a California law that restricts marriage to opposite-sex couples.





By finding on a 5-4 vote that supporters of the ban on gay marriage did not have standing to defend the law, the court effectively gave the green light for at least some gay weddings to proceed in California because a federal judge’s original ruling that struck down the law, known as Proposition 8, will remain intact.





(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Howard Goller and Will Dunham)