BEIJING, May 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The California Supreme Court's ruling will give gays and lesbians a right to marry as soon as June 14, the president of the California's county clerks association said Monday.

    "They are shooting for the 14th," said Stephen Weir, who heads the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, adding that the state planned to give California's 58 counties advice early this week for implementing the historic change so local officials can start planning.

    The issue of same-sex marriage already has burned out in more than half the states in the U.S.

    In 2004, Massachusetts' first-in-the-nation decision legalizing gay marriage sparked a political backlash that resulted in voter-approved constitutional bans on same-sex weddings in 23 states. Four states already had constitutional bans.

    After Massachusetts issued the first marriage licenses to same-sex couples, voters in 13 states in 2004 rushed to rewrite their constitutions to limit marriage to heterosexuals. Two more states passed constitutional bans on gay marriage in 2005 and eight more in 2006. Arizona in 2006 became the first and only state so far to reject a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage.

    Only three states have no laws either condoning or prohibiting same-sex marriage: New Mexico, New York and Rhode Island.

    "While the California ruling is very significant, a lot of states have already taken action on this," said Christine Nelson, an analyst who tracks the issue for the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver.

    (Agencies)