Sunny day! The California Supreme Court affirmed without comment the state appellate court's decision that the California domestic partnership laws do not violate the "marriage is between a man and a woman" Proposition 22. (FYI: Janice Rogers Brown didn't vote.) So Bert and Ernie now have all the same legal rights as any straight married couple under state law.

This, however, doesn't cover benefits covered by federal law, so Ernie can't collect Bert's social security checks yet, or file a joint tax return with him. Still, though -- Bert is now welcome to sit by Ernie's bed at the hospital, buy a house with Ernie as a joint tenant with right of survivorship, and -- awright! -- refuse to testify against Ernie when Ernie gets indicted for a DUI! (in state court only, though -- so Ernie better not get busted doing any illegal downloading or anything.)

This ruling is independent of Mark Leno's push to get Prop 22 invalidated entirely, and the court cases trying to do the same thing. And in related news, Canada just made gay marriage legal in all 10 provinces and three territories, making it the third country after the Netherlands and Belgium to do so.

Update: In response to this decision, some right-wing groups have announced that they're going to start redoubling their efforts to pass an amendment to Prop 22 that bars domestic partnership arrangements for same-sex couples, as soon as next year.