Will gay marriage become an election year issue?

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All three major party candidates remaining in the race for the White House have said they believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, all three oppose a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and all three want to see states decide the issue.

The Republican-dominated California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.

The California high court's ruling cited a 1948 California Supreme Court decision that overturned a ban on interracial marriages.

The 4-3 opinion written by Chief Justice Ronald George said domestic partnerships that provide many of the rights and benefits of matrimony are not enough.

So, where do the White House candidates differ?

Sen. John McCain supported the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which banned federal recognition of gay marriage and domestic partnerships. Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton have called the law discriminatory and want to see it repealed.

McCain and Clinton have taken different tacks in their home bases. McCain supported a 2006 Arizona ballot initiative banning gay marriage, "to protect the sanctity of marriage," he said.

Clinton declined to get involved in a New York State Assembly battle over gay marriage in 2006, but agreed that "it should be in the political process."

When he served in the Illinois Senate, Obama sponsored legislation that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Illinois enacted such a law in 2005, after Obama had been elected to the U.S. Senate.

Clinton and McCain have not yet spoken directly about the California Supreme Court's decision. Obama and Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr released statements.

"Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as president," his campaign's statement read. "He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage."

"Regardless of whether one supports or opposes same sex marriage, the decision to recognize such unions or not ought to be a power each state exercises on its own, rather than imposition of a one-size-fits-all mandate by the federal government," Barr said in a statement. "The decision today by the Supreme Court of California properly reflects this fundamental principle of federalism on which our nation was founded."