The Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club, a local political institution whose endorsement is a perennial must-have for San Francisco Democrats, has received a letter from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in which he announces his opposition to the gay marriage ban amendment that will appear on California ballots this fall.

And in other political news, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has filed papers to begin a bid for Governor for the 2010 election. Newsom, forever closely linked to the gay marriage issue ever since he opened the floodgates for gay marriages in San Francisco in 2004, was vindicated earlier this year when the California Supreme Court ruled that gay marriages were constitutional in the state.

The California Supreme court released their statement today, ruling on the decision to legalize same-sex marriage. You can read the news release here.

San Francisco — The California Supreme Court today held that the California legislative and initiative measures limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples violate the state constitutional rights of same-sex couples and may not be used to preclude same-sex couples from marrying. (In re Marriage Cases, S147999.)

The court concluded that permitting opposite-sex couples to marry while affording same-sex couples access only to the novel and less-recognized status of domestic partnership improperly infringes a same-sex couple’s constitutional rights to marry and to the equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the California Constitution.

The decision directs state officials who supervise the enforcement of the state’s marriage laws to ensure that local officials comply with the court’s ruling and permit same-sex couples to marry. The decision becomes final in 30 days unless that period is extended by court order.