The opinion, written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, cited the Court's 1948 decision in "Perez v. Sharp" where the state's interracial marriage ban was held unconstitutional. It found that "equal respect and dignity" of marriage is a "basic civil right" that cannot be withheld from same-sex couples, that sexual orientation is a protected class like race and gender, and that any classification or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is subject to strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the California State Constitution. Associate Justices Joyce L. Kennard, Kathryn Werdegar, and Carlos R. Moreno concurred. It is the first state high court in the country to do so. The Massachusetts State Supreme Court, by contrast, did not find sexual orientation to be a protected class, and instead voided its same-sex marriage ban on rational basis review.