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The California Supreme Court has overturned the state's controversial ban on same-sex marriage (decision .pdf). As NBC's Pete Williams states, there are already groups in California trying to put anti- same-sex marriage amendment initiative on the November ballot. This makes California the second state in the union to allow same-sex couples to marry along with Massachusetts. More from the San Francisco Chronicle:

The justices' 4-3 decision Thursday says domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage. Chief Justice Ron George wrote the opinion.

The city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples and gay rights groups sued in March 2004 after the court halted San Francisco's monthlong same-sex wedding march.

The case before the court involved a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter-approved law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Read on...