It is about time. The California Supreme Court voted 4 to 3 to allow for same-sex marriages on May 15 based on a “basic civil right to marry without regard to their sexual orientation.”

To claim this is a country where everyone is supposed to be equal is far from true. This seems to be a government that picks and chooses what does and does not make Americans equal.

One of these restrictions is that a marriage is only considered to be between a man and a woman, not between two people that love each other.

Couples in love tend to want to spend the rest of their lives together, but heterosexuals are not the only couples capable of this. It is ridiculous that the American government has a right to determine who can and cannot marry. A decision like this should be left up to the couples that are involved in the marriage itself.

We live in a country that dictates Americans should keep church and state separate, but somehow the Bible still plays a major role in the country’s laws. The problem is that not everyone follows the teachings of the Bible, so why should anyone that does not believe in this book be forced to follow its rules?

A domestic partnership does not offer the same rights as a marriage, though some people think they do. If domestic partnerships offered these rights, maybe gays and lesbians would not want to legalize same-sex marriage.

When people say they are married, they are saying they are committed to their significant other 100 percent. Choosing to live together is not the same thing as a marriage either. Simply living together does not provide rights to their partner’s life in terms of making decisions for their loved one.

On June 17, same-sex couples will be able to register for marriage licenses. How long these marriages will be recognized is unknown. A few weeks ago, about 700,000 signatures were collected to put an initiative on the state ballot in November.

Californians should have the right to vote on the issue of same-sex marriage. Both sides, whether for or against same-sex marriage, must realize that what voters decide should apply to the state, not turn it into a federal issue.

It is amazing to think that if this initiative were not passed, California voters would be showing that they do not validate peoples’ love for one another because of whom they cannot help but love. That would mean voters think same-sex couples are less human than heterosexual couples, and that is simply not right.

If the court said preventing same-sex marriages is against people’s civil rights, why should this even be a question of legality? Everyone is supposed to be equal by natural and man-made law, so marriage should be allowed for anyone.