California Voters Approve Proposition 8: Same-Sex Marriage Rights Revoked

Election Day, November 5, 2008: Proposition 8, which limits marriage in California to heterosexual couples, passed Tuesday with 52 per cent support, only 5 months after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last earlier this year.

Since the Supreme Court recognized same-sex marriage in June, it is estimated that more than 18,000 same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses. Although the California Attorney General will recognize those marriages which tool place between June and November, their legal status is far from settled. What is clear is that same-sex couples will no longer be able to obtain a marriage license in the state of California.

Many commentators have suggested that the California Amendment is singularly unique, in that it strips away the fundamental civil rights of a minority group by a vote of the majority electorate.

Three lawsuits have already been filed in the state of California to challenge the Amendment on procedural grounds. Any challenge to the substance of the Amendment is likely to fail before the California Supreme Court, which is bound to interpret the Constitution as written. However, there is a chance that one or more lawsuits on the issue of same-sex marriage rights will make it's way before the United State Supreme Court.

It's likely that same-sex marriages which were granted in California between the months of June and November, when the Amendment was approved, will be recognized in other states that either grant or honor same-sex marriages, like Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.