Same-sex marriage fight shifts to California


SANTA ANA, California (AP) -- They filed their lawsuit almost as an afterthought. But a legal challenge by a same-sex couple from suburban Orange County against laws banning same-sex marriage has suddenly become key in the thin field of litigation on the issue.

Christopher Hammer and Arthur Smelt plan to be in U.S. District Court on Thursday as their attorney argues that the federal law, as well as California's Proposition 22, are violations of civil rights akin to slavery or denial of women's right to vote.

California recognizes only marriages between a man and a woman, and the Defense of Marriage Act allows states to disregard gay marriages performed in other states and foreign countries