Not many states get their own effect. California does. The phrase “California effect” refers to the broad phenomenon in America in which California, as one of the largest and most influential states, dictates national policy by setting its own state regulations and forcing nationwide corporations to either comply or lose the state’s business. Generally, the term has been applied to California’s ability to change American business and industry.

But the term took on a whole new meaning last week. Across the state, hundreds of same-sex couples, as well as many couples from other states, capitalized on last month’s decision by the California Supreme Court to overturn a ban against homosexual marriage and rushed to get married.

While the Golden State wasn’t the first state to recognize same-sex marriage (Massachusetts was), California’s law came with a twist: It grants marriage licenses to out-of-state homosexuals.

That’s not an insignificant distinction. “This sets the stage for future court battles in the other states where same-sex marriage is forbidden,” Jeffrey Kuhner noted in the Washington Times. “Gay and lesbian couples are already tying the knot in California, so they can return to their home states and demand that their unions be legalized there as well” (emphasis mine throughout).

This has enormous national ramifications.

In fact, the “California effect” has already staked its first out-of-state claim.

On May 14, New York Gov. David Paterson issued a directive informing all state agencies to begin to revise policies and procedures to recognize homosexual marriages performed in other jurisdictions, such as Massachusetts, California and Canada. Homosexual couples “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union,” stated David Nocenti, the governor’s legal counsel.

There was no mention of asking the citizens of New York state what they thought about the directive.

Mr. Paterson’s announcement provided moral support to homosexual lobbyists and lawmakers in California. But his directive came with far-reaching and expensive ramifications for New York law. “The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York,”noted the New York Times, “governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses.” California law is exhibiting remarkable reach, precipitating vast changes 2,500 miles away in one of the oldest and most populated states in the Union.

Governor Paterson has strong ties with the homosexual community, and he’s clearly an ardent advocate of same-sex marriage. How long before he overcomes conservative opposition and legalizes homosexual marriage in New York? California’s decision will undoubtedly reinvigorate the debate over homosexual marriage in more than a few states; imagine what the legalization of same-sex marriage by New York, another influential state, would do for the broader homosexual agenda.

The doctrine of judicial precedent plays a fundamental role in the practice of American law, be it at a county, local or federal level. When a court is vested with the responsibility to make a decision, it must first learn how other courts have decided the same issue. Lawyers investigate whether or not a precedent has been established, how alike the cases are and how much bearing prior decisions should have on the case at hand. Any lawyer will tell you the principle of judicial precedent is a potent instrument of persuasion.

That’s why the state of Massachusetts rocked the legal community in 2004 when it legalized homosexual marriage. That decision defied the historical precedent against homosexual marriage and marked the establishment of a new legal precedent for same-sex marriage. But Massachusetts was a comparatively small state with marginal influence.

Now California, arguably America’s most influential state, has legitimized the precedent established by Massachusetts!

Worse yet, by giving marriage licenses to out-of-state homosexual couples, California forces other states on the issue, bullying its way toward legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide!

California’s decision, as Jeffrey Kuhner put it, was “a watershed in our raging culture wars.” New York gave the new pro-homosexual precedent added credence by announcing it would recognize homosexual marriages performed in California.

It’s early, but momentum is clearly favoring the spread of legalized homosexual marriage.

Prior to the Massachusetts ruling in 2004, same-sex marriage was illegal in each of the 50 states. The unity of the states in their opposition to homosexual marriage added immense weight to the legal argument against same-sex marriage. If that pivotal argument against same-sex marriage was undermined by Massachusetts in 2004, it was practically gutted by California’s Supreme Court. The more states that capitulate and overturn their ban on same-sex marriage, the stronger the legal argument for homosexual marriage grows in other states.

“I feel like California and New York are the two states that are always going to be leaders and the rest of the states will slowly follow behind,” said Esther Diaz, a lesbian living in Texas who hopes the precedent set in California and New York will be embraced by her state. “It’s just a matter of time.”

Diaz is probably right: In time, the diabolical decision of four liberal Californian judges will have personal consequences for every American!

Some homosexual lobbyist groups implored same-sex couples to not return from California and immediately take their state government to court—concerned that rash lawsuits could result in a backlash of bad results in other states. Still, state courts across America could soon be inundated with requests and lawsuits demanding they recognize homosexual marriages performed in California. “We expect a large scale of lawsuits across the country,” said Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel with Alliance Defense Fund. “Obviously these groups [homosexual lobbyists] want to go ahead in a cohesive strategy—but I don’t think they’ll be able to stop everybody.”

These unpopular judicial decisions put a significant ace up the sleeve of the radical homosexual movement!

We can expect the ramifications of the “California effect” to ripple beyond just the legal case for same-sex marriage. The emboldened homosexual lobby is certain to push the door open wider in order to assault other laws and rights. In fact, this is already a reality, as Barbara Bradley Hagerty recognized recently on National Public Radio.

“As gay couples in California head to the courthouse starting Monday to get legally married, there are signs of a coming storm,” she wrote. “Two titanic legal principles are crashing on the steps of the church, synagogue and mosque: equal treatment for same-sex couples on the one hand, and the freedom to exercise religious beliefs on the other.” Armed with a growing number of legal protections, including California’s new law recognizing same-sex marriage, homosexuals across America are beginning to challenge sundry groups and organizations that have policies perceived as discriminatory or based on religious belief.

“Now parochial schools, ‘para-church’ organizations such as Catholic charities and businesses that refuse to serve gay couples are being sued,” wrote Hagerty, “and so far, the religious groups are losing.”

Something else to note: As homosexuals line up to get married in Californian courts, the state is facing a series of unrelenting troubles. This week, northern California was hit by an unprecedented lightning storm that ignited more than 800 fires; meanwhile, Southern California is enduring a record-breaking heat wave; drought remains a serious and growing concern; the state has serious economic woes; violence is escalating, making it an increasingly dangerous place to live; illegal aliens flow uncontrolled over the border; the cost of living is skyrocketing, and the housing market is plummeting.

Some would say California is cursed! What was once the dream state millions of Americans wanted to live in is fast becoming a scourged state many are trying to flee from!

Believe it or not, there is a correlation between California’s decision to recognize same-sex marriage and the onslaught of catastrophes it is experiencing. California is at the vanguard of the assault on marriage and family, and of America’s rapid decline into moral depravity. Ultimately, this is one of the primary reasons California is also leading the United States in catastrophes!

America’s Golden State is under a curse, and it’s important you understand why. It is only then that we can understand how we might avoid the terrible crises befalling California. Don’t wait; read “Is California Under a Curse?” and “California Disasters Continue—Why?” by editor in chief Gerald Flurry.