California State Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 8

The California State Supreme Court has ruled that Proposition 8, defining marriage as between and man and a woman, is valid. The court also left intact the 18,000 same-sex marriages that occurred at times when same sex unions were legal.

From the San Francisco Examiner:

The California Supreme Court upheld a constitutional amendment today banning same-sex marriage despite claims from gay marriage advocates that taking away such a fundamental right requires more than a simple majority at the ballot box.

The court ruled 6-1 to uphold the ban, with Justice Carlos Moreno as the only dissenting vote.

The court also unanimously agreed that the thousands of marriages performed while same-sex marriage was legal in California are valid.

On Feb. 12, 2004, Mayor Gavin Newsom defied the law and authorized the County Clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The decision was validated in May, 2008, when the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to get married.

The landmark decision became a model across the nation where same-sex marriage issues have been decided through the courts. The California Supreme Court, for instance, was the first to consider sexual orientation as a protected class.

But the November passage of Proposition 8 by 52 percent of California voters overturned that decision. The state constitution now defines marriage as between a man and a woman.