Californian gay marriages may be nullified

The sponsors of Proposition 8, which outlawed gay unions in California, asked the California Supreme Court yesterday to nullify the marriages of the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who exchanged vows before voters approved the ballot initiative.

The 'Yes on 8' campaign filed a brief arguing that because the new law holds that only marriages between a man and a woman are recognised or valid in California, the state can no longer recognise the existing same-sex unions.