Marriage

Talk About Your Shotgun Weddings

Same sex couples play beat-the-clock in California.

The gold rush towards California is back, but this time people are putting it on their fingers. A study released earlier this week by the University of California found that 3,800 same-sex couples are rushing to marry in the state each month before November 8, when the public votes on a referendum that could revoke the right. In the last three months, more same-sex couples have married in California than have in Massachusetts over the last four years. "For certain, some portion of these 11,000 are not Californian residents," said researcher Gary Gates. The counties with the biggest increases in weddings "tend to correlate with tourist places in the state."