A trial court judge ruled Monday that California's ban on gay marriages is unconstitutional. The decision may possibly become a legal milestone, which would open the way for the most populous state to follow Massachusetts in allowing gay couples to wed.

Lesbians were married by Deputy Marriage Commissioner at City Hall in San Francisco, California on February 13, 2004. (Reuters/file)

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer ruled Monday that while withholding marriage licenses from gays and lesbians has been the status quo, it constitutes discrimination the state can no longer justify. He compared the ban to archaic laws that once blocked interracial marriage or promoted "separate but equal" segregation.

"The state's protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional," Kramer wrote. "Simply put, same-sex marriage cannot be prohibited solely because California has always done so before."

Kramer's decision is stayed automatically for 60 days to allow time for appeals. If upheld on appeal, the decision could lead to California becoming the second state -- after Massachusetts -- in which gays and lesbians have the same access to marriage licenses as heterosexuals.

Gay rights advocates heralded the ruling. They hailed it as a development akin to the 1948 state Supreme Court decision that made California the first state to legalize interracial marriage. 

"Lesbian and gay citizens in California are full individuals entitled to the full dignity

File photo of gay couples gathering at City Hall on the first year anniversary of same sex marriages in San Francisco, California on February 12, 2005. (Reuters)

of the law for their relationship, for their lives and for their families," said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco.

However, conservative groups that oppose same-sex marriages expressed outrage and vowed to uphold California's one woman-one man marriage laws.

"For a single judge to rule there is no conceivable purpose for preserving marriage as one man and one woman is mind-boggling," said Liberty Counsel President Mathew Staver, whose group represents the Campaign for California Families, one of two organizations that joined the state's attorney general's office in defending California's existing laws.

"This decision will be gasoline on the fire of the pro-marriage movement in California as well as the rest of the country," Staver said.

The ruling comes 13 months after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom challenged state law during a monthlong period in which he authorized the marriage of more than 4,000 gay couples at City Hall.

The California Supreme Court blocked the city from issuing licenses to same-sex couples and later nullified those unions. Monday's ruling stems from lawsuits brought by the city and a dozen couples challenging the constitutionality of the state laws.

Editor: Catherine