A US federal judge has struck down a California ban on same-sex marriages as unconstitutional.
It is a key victory to gay rights advocates in a politically charged decision almost certain to reach the US Supreme Court.
US District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker also ordered the voter-approved ban, known as Proposition 8, immediately lifted to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry while the case moves to a higher court.
Proposition 8 supporters had sought to keep the measure in place pending the outcome of their appeal.
But the judge said the lawsuit challenging Prop 8 ‘demonstrated by overwhelming evidence’ that it violates due process and equal-protection rights under the US Constitution.
The highly anticipated ruling marked a major turning point in a social debate that has sharply divided the American public and its political establishment.
Gay rights advocates and civil libertarians have cast the legal battle as a fight for equal rights, while opponents, including many religious conservatives, see same-sex marriage as a threat to the ‘traditional family.’
Both sides have said an appeal to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals was certain regardless of the outcome today.
The case could then go to the Supreme Court, provided the high court's justices opted to hear it.
