March 14 (Bloomberg) -- A California judge struck down the state's laws banning gay weddings, saying that measures defining marriage as between a man and a woman are unconstitutional.

Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer's ruling, pending appeals, would make California the second state in the U.S. to legalize gay marriages after Massachusetts. San Francisco, which conducted about 4,000 same-sex weddings last year before the ceremonies were halted by the state Supreme Court, claimed the laws violated the rights of gays and lesbians.

``Same-sex marriage cannot be prohibited solely because California has always done so before,'' Kramer said in a 27-page tentative ruling released today in San Francisco. The ruling doesn't take effect for 60 days.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom captured national attention last year when he ordered city officials to provide marriage licenses to gay couples in defiance of state laws banning the practice. Gay weddings became an issue in the 2004 election after President George W. Bush urged Congress to adopt an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would bar same-sex marriage.

``It's not a surprising result and ultimately we're going to have to wait for the state Supreme Court to give us the final word, but it's a first step toward a final decision in this important case,'' said Larry Levine, a law professor at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.

Jordan Lorence, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, and Matt Staver, a lawyer for the Campaign for California Families, didn't immediately return voicemail messages left at their offices. Both groups oppose gay marriage.

`Just the Beginning'

Previous rulings in the case by the California Supreme Court dealt with whether Newsom overstepped his authority by ordering city officials to perform the gay weddings.

``This is just the beginning,'' Newsom said at a City Hall press conference today. ``It's inevitable that there will be an appeal.'' He called the ruling ``remarkably measured and balanced and, of course, fair.''

Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said state officials were studying the ruling and would have no immediate comment.

Massachusetts became the first state in the union to recognize gay marriages in 2003, following a ruling by the state's Supreme Court. Last month, a New York judge ruled that a law in that state was unconstitutional and ordered New York City to issue marriage licenses to five gay and lesbian couples.

Other States

Newsom's decision just before Valentine's Day last year to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples sparked a flurry of gay weddings across the country. Municipalities from New Paltz, New York, to Multnomah County, Oregon, allowed gay couples to wed before being halted by courts.

In November, voters in 11 states, including Ohio and Oregon, passed laws banning gay marriage.

Kramer said in his ruling that a person's choice of a marriage partner ``cannot be limited by the state unless there is a legitimate government reason for doing so.''

The case is Marriage Cases, 428-794, San Francisco Superior Court, San Francisco, California.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Gullo in San Francisco at kgullo@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 14, 2005 17:18 EST