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Wikipedia

2008 California Proposition 8

February 15, 2024

"Proposition 8" redirects here. For the 2018 Proposition, see 2018 California Proposition 8. For other uses, see Proposition 8 (disambiguation).

Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in court. The proposition was created by opponents of same-sex marriage in advance[2] of the California Supreme Court's May 2008 appeal ruling, In re Marriage Cases, which followed the short-lived 2004 same-sex weddings controversy and found the previous ban on same-sex marriage (Proposition 22, 2000) unconstitutional. Proposition 8 was ultimately ruled unconstitutional by a federal court (on different grounds) in 2010, although the court decision did not go into effect until June 26, 2013, following the conclusion of proponents' appeals.

Proposition 8
November 4, 2008
Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 7,001,084 52.24%
No 6,401,482 47.76%
Valid votes 13,402,566 97.52%
Invalid or blank votes 340,611 2.48%
Total votes 13,743,177 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 17,304,428 79.42%
Source: California Secretary of State[1]

Proposition 8 countermanded the 2008 ruling by adding the same provision as in Proposition 22 to the California Constitution, providing that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California", thereby superseding the 2008 ruling.[3][4][5] As an amendment, it was ruled constitutional by the California Supreme Court in Strauss v. Horton in 2009, on the grounds that it "carved out a limited [or 'narrow'] exception to the state equal protection clause"; in his dissent, Justice Carlos R. Moreno wrote that exceptions to the equal protection clause could not be made by any majority since its whole purpose was to protect minorities against the will of a majority.

Legal challenges to Proposition 8 were presented by opponents quickly after its approval. Following affirmation by the state courts, two same-sex couples filed a lawsuit against the initiative in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger (later Hollingsworth v. Perry). In August 2010, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the amendment was unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment,[6] since it purported to re-remove rights from a disfavored class only, with no rational basis. The official proponents' justifications for the measure were analyzed in over fifty pages covering eighty findings of fact. The state government supported the ruling and refused to defend the law.[7] The ruling was stayed pending appeal by the proponents of the initiative. On February 7, 2012, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2–1 decision, reached the same conclusion as the district court, but on narrower grounds. The court ruled that it was unconstitutional for California to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples, only to take them away shortly after. The ruling was stayed pending appeal to the United States Supreme Court.[8]

On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision on the appeal in the case Hollingsworth v. Perry, ruling that proponents of initiatives such as Proposition 8 did not possess legal standing in their own right to defend the resulting law in federal court, either to the Supreme Court or (previously) to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Therefore, the Supreme Court vacated the decision of the Ninth Circuit, and remanded the case for further proceedings. The decision left the district court's 2010 ruling intact.[9][10][11] On June 28, 2013, the Ninth Circuit, on remand, dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and dissolved their previous stay of the district court's ruling, enabling Governor Jerry Brown to order same-sex marriages to resume.[12]

The passage of Proposition 8 received widespread media coverage over the amendment's effect on the concurrent 2008 presidential and congressional elections, as well as the pre-election effects Proposition 8 had on California's reputation as a historically LGBT-friendly state and the same-sex marriage debate that had started after same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts through a 2004 court decision. After the results were certified and same-sex marriages ceased, supporters of the initiative were targeted by opponents with actions ranging from some opponents disclosing supporter donations and boycotting proponents' businesses, to others threatening supporters with death and vandalizing churches.

A ballot proposal to formally repeal Prop 8 from California's constitution was passed by the California State Legislature in July 2023. The vote will take place during the 2024 elections.

Overview

In 2000, the State of California adopted Proposition 22 which, as an ordinary statute, forbade recognition or licensing of same-sex marriages in the state. During February and March 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directed the licensing of same-sex marriages on the basis of the state's equal protection clause, prompted also by recent events including George W. Bush's proposed constitutional ban, a possible legal case by Campaign for California Families (CCF), and a Supreme Court of Massachusetts ruling deeming same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional and permitting them from May 2004. While only lasting a month before being overruled, this was supported by other cities such as San Jose,[13] gained global attention, and led to the case In re Marriage Cases, in which Proposition 22 was found (San Francisco County Superior Court, March 14, 2005) and confirmed upon appeal (California Supreme Court, May 15, 2008) to be unconstitutional.

Proposition 8 was created by opponents of same-sex marriage prior to the final ruling on In re Marriage Cases as a voter ballot initiative, and voted on at the time of the November 2008 elections. Its wording was precisely the same as Proposition 22, which as an ordinary statute, had been invalidated in 2008, but by re-positioning it as a State constitutional amendment rather than a legislative statute, it was able to circumvent the ruling from In re Marriage Cases.[14] The proposition did not affect domestic partnerships in California,[15] nor (following subsequent legal rulings) did it reverse same-sex marriages that had been performed during the interim period May to November 2008 (i.e. after In re Marriage Cases but before Proposition 8).[16][17][18]

Proposition 8 came into immediate effect on November 5, 2008, the day after the elections. Demonstrations and protests occurred across the state and nation. Same-sex couples and government entities, including couples who had married before then, filed numerous lawsuits with the California Supreme Court challenging the proposition's validity and effect on previously administered same-sex marriages. In Strauss v. Horton, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, but allowed the existing same-sex marriages to stand (under the grandfather clause principle). (Justice Carlos R. Moreno dissented that exceptions to the equal protection clause could not be made by any majority since its whole purpose was to protect minorities against the will of a majority.)

Although upheld in State court, Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional by the federal courts. In Perry v. Schwarzenegger, United States District Court Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8 on August 4, 2010, ruling that it violated both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.[19] Walker issued a stay (injunction) against enforcing Proposition 8 and a stay to determine suspension of his ruling pending appeal.[20][21] The State of California did not appeal the ruling (with which it had agreed anyway) leaving the initiative proponents and one county to seek an appeal.

On appeal, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled the county had no right of appeal, and asked the California Supreme Court to rule whether the proponents of Prop 8 had the right to appeal (known as "standing") if the State did not do so. The California Supreme Court ruled that they did. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the federal district court's decision on February 7, 2012,[22] but the stay remained in place as appeals continued to the U.S. Supreme Court,[23] which heard oral arguments in the appeal Hollingsworth v. Perry on March 26, 2013.[24] On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and ruled that the Ninth Circuit had erred in allowing the previous appeal, since in line with Article III of the Constitution and many prior cases unanimous on the point, being an initiative proponents is not enough by itself to have federal court standing or appeal a ruling in federal court. This left the original federal district court ruling against Proposition 8 as the outcome, and same sex marriages resumed almost immediately afterwards.

History of the ballot initiative

Proposition 8 (ballot title: Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment; originally titled the "California Marriage Protection Act")[25][26] was a California ballot proposition that changed the California Constitution to add a new section 7.5 to Article I, which reads: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."[3][4][5] This change restricted the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples, and eliminated same-sex couples' right to marry, thereby overriding portions of the ruling of In re Marriage Cases by "carving out an exception to the preexisting scope of the privacy and due process clauses"[27] of the state constitution.

To qualify for the ballot, Proposition 8 needed 694,354 valid petition signatures, equal to 8% of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2006 general election. The initiative proponents submitted 1,120,801 signatures, and on June 2, 2008, the initiative qualified for the November 4, 2008 election ballot through the random sample signature check.[28]

Full text

Proposition 8 consisted of two sections. Its full text was:[29]

SECTION 1. Title

This measure shall be known and may be cited as the "California Marriage Protection Act."

SECTION 2. Article I, Section 7.5 is added to the California Constitution, to read:

Sec. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Pre-election legal challenges

Petition to remove proposition from ballot

Further information: California Constitution § Amendments and revisions

On July 16, 2008, the California Supreme Court denied a petition calling for the removal of Proposition 8 from the November ballot. The petition asserted the proposition should not be on the ballot on the grounds it was a constitutional revision that only the legislature or a constitutional convention could place before voters. Opponents also argued that the petitions circulated to qualify the measure for the ballot inaccurately summarized its effect. The court denied the petition without comment.[30] As a general rule, it is improper for courts to adjudicate pre-election challenges to a measure's substantive validity.[31] The question of whether Proposition 8 is a constitutional amendment or constitutional revision was ruled on by the California Supreme Court on May 26, 2009, and found that it was not a revision and therefore would be upheld. They also declared that the same-sex marriages performed prior to the passing of Prop 8 would remain valid.[32]

Challenge to title and summary

The measure was titled: "Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment." The ballot summary read that the measure "changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California."[33][34]

Proponents of the measure objected to the wording of the ballot title and summary on the grounds that they were argumentative and prejudicial. The resulting legal petition Jansson v. Bowen[35] was dismissed August 7, 2008, by California Superior Court Judge Timothy M. Frawley, who ruled that "the title and summary includes an essentially verbatim recital of the text of the measure itself",[36] and that the change was valid because the measure did, in fact, eliminate a right upheld by the California Supreme Court.

 
As California State Attorney General, Jerry Brown (shown here campaigning for Governor in 2010) had the ballot's description and title changed from "Limit on Marriage" to "Eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry".[37]

California Attorney General Jerry Brown explained that the changes were required to more "accurately reflect the measure" in light of the California Supreme Court's intervening In re Marriage Cases decision.[38]

On July 22, 2008, Proposition 8 supporters mounted a legal challenge to the revised ballot title and summary, contending that Attorney General Brown inserted "language [...] so inflammatory that it will unduly prejudice voters against the measure".[39] Supporters claimed that research showed that an attorney general had never used an active verb like "eliminates" in the title of a ballot measure in the past fifty years in which ballot measures have been used.[39] Representatives of the attorney general produced twelve examples of ballot measures using the word "eliminates" and vouched for the neutrality and accuracy of the ballot language.[40][41]

On August 8, 2008, the California Superior Court turned down the legal challenge, affirming the new title and summary, stating, "the title and summary is not false or misleading because it states that Proposition 8 would 'eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry' in California." The Superior Court based their decision on the previous Marriages Cases ruling in which the California Supreme Court held that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry under the California Constitution.[38][42] That same day, proponents of Prop. 8 filed an emergency appeal with the state appeals court. The Court of Appeal denied their petition later that day and supporters did not seek a review by the Supreme Court of California.[43][44] The deadline for court action on the wording of ballot summaries and arguments in the voter pamphlet was August 11, 2008.[45]

While turning down the challenge to the title and summary, the California Superior Court also found that the Yes on 8 campaign had overstated its ballot argument on the measure's impact on public schools and ordered a minor change in wording. The original arguments included a claim that the Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage requires teachers to tell their students, as young as kindergarten age, that same-sex marriage is the same as opposite-sex marriage. The court said the Yes on 8 argument was false because instruction on marriage is not required and parents can withdraw their children. The court said the ballot argument could be preserved by rewording it to state that teachers "may" or "could" be required to tell children there is no difference between same-sex and opposite-sex marriage.[42]

Campaign

Campaign funding and spending

The pro- and anti-Prop 8 campaigns spent a combined $106 million on the campaign.[46] This was not the most expensive California ballot proposition that year, however; the 2008 campaigns for and against Propositions 94, 95, 96, and 97, dealing with the expansion of Native American gambling, surpassed Prop 8, with combined expenditures of $172 million.[46]

By election day, volunteers on both sides spent thousands of hours getting their messages across to the state's 17.3 million registered voters.[47][48] The campaigns for and against Proposition 8 raised $39.0 million ($11.3 million or 29.1% from outside California) and $44.1 million ($13.2 million or 30.0% from outside California), respectively,[49] from over 64,000 people in all 50 states and more than 20 foreign countries, setting a new record nationally for a social policy initiative and more than for every other race in the country in spending except the presidential contest.[50] Contributions were much greater than those of previous same-sex marriage initiatives. Between 2004 and 2006, 22 such measures were on ballots around the country, and donations to all of them combined totaled $31.4 million, according to OpenSecrets.[51] A ProtectMarriage.com spokeswoman estimated that 36 companies which had previously contributed to Equality California were targeted to receive a letter requesting similar donations to ProtectMarriage.com.[52][53][54][55]

The California Fair Political Practices Commission fined the LDS Church in 2010 for failing to follow campaign disclosure policies during the last two weeks leading up to the election, which amounted to $37,000 in non-monetary contributions. They were fined $5,538.[56]

Both proponents and opponents of Proposition 8 made significant use of online tactics for campaigning. For example, over 800 videos were posted on YouTube, most consisting of original content and most taking a position against the Proposition. A greater proportion of 'Yes on 8' videos were scripted and professionally produced. Many 'No on 8' videos recorded demonstrations in the aftermath of the election.[57]

Proponents

 
Official ProtectMarriage.com "Yes on 8" campaign sign[58]

Proponents of the constitutional amendment argued that exclusively heterosexual marriage was "an essential institution of society", that leaving the constitution unchanged would "result in public schools teaching our kids that gay marriage is okay", and that gay people "do not have the right to redefine marriage for everyone else".[59]

The ProtectMarriage.com organization sponsored the initiative that placed Proposition 8 on the ballot[60] and continues to support the measure. The measure also attracted the support of a number of political figures and religious organizations.

Political figures

Republican presidential nominee and U.S. Senator John McCain released a statement of support for the proposed constitutional amendment.[61] Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich released a video in support. Both characterized the court ruling requiring recognition of same sex marriage as being against the will of the people.[62] A political action committee run by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who personally supported the proposition, donated $10,000 to the National Organization for Marriage during their campaign for the proposition.[63]

Religious organizations

The Roman Catholic Church,[64] as well as a Roman Catholic lay fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus,[65] firmly supported the measure. The bishops of the California Catholic Conference released a statement supporting the proposition,[66] a position met with mixed reactions among church members, including clergy.[67][68]

George Hugh Niederauer as Archbishop of San Francisco campaigned in 2008 in favor of the Proposition, and claimed to have been instrumental in forging alliances between Catholics and Mormons to support the measure.[69] His successor, Salvatore Cordileone was regarded as instrumental in devising the initiative. Campaign finance records show he personally gave at least $6,000 to back the voter-approved ban[70] and was instrumental in raising $1.5 million to put the proposition on the ballot.[71] Subsequently, as archbishop of San Francisco, he has called publicly for an amendment to the US Constitution as "the only remedy in law against judicial activism" following the number of state same-sex marriage bans struck down by federal judges. He also attended and addressed the audience at the "March for Marriage", a rally opposing marriage for same-sex couples, in Washington, D.C., in June 2014.[72]

In California's 2008 election the Knights of Columbus attracted media attention when they donated more than $1.4 million to Proposition 8.[73] The Order was the largest financial supporter of the successful effort to maintain a legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.[74]

 
Rally for Yes on Prop 8 in Fresno

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[75][76][77] (LDS Church), also publicly supported the proposition. The First Presidency of the church announced its support for Proposition 8 in a letter intended to be read in every congregation in California. In this letter, church members were encouraged to "do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time".[75] The church produced and broadcast to its congregations a program describing the support of the Proposition, and describing the timeline it proposes for what it describes as grassroots efforts to support the Proposition.[78] Local church leaders set organizational and monetary goals for their membership—sometimes quite specific—to fulfill this call.[79][80] The response of church members to their leadership's appeals to donate money and volunteer time was very supportive,[81] such that Latter-day Saints provided a significant source for financial donations in support of the proposition, both inside and outside the State of California.[82] LDS members contributed over $20 million,[83] about 45% of out-of-state contributions to ProtectMarriage.com came from Utah, over three times more than any other state.[84] ProtectMarriage, the official proponent of Proposition 8, estimates that about half the donations they received came from Mormon sources, and that LDS church members made up somewhere between 80% and 90% of the volunteers for early door-to-door canvassing.[85]

Other religious organizations that supported Proposition 8 include the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America,[86] Eastern Orthodox Church,[87] a group of Evangelical Christians led by Jim Garlow and Miles McPherson,[88] American Family Association, Focus on the Family[89] and the National Organization for Marriage.[90] Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, also endorsed the measure.[91]

Others

The Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego County, California, publicly voted on a resolution endorsing Proposition 8. The Governing Board voted 4–0 to endorse the amendment of the California State Constitution.[92]

The Asian Heritage Coalition held a rally in support of Proposition 8 in downtown San Diego on October 19, 2008.[93]

During the November 2008 election campaign, Porterville's City Council was the only City Council in California that passed a Resolution in favor of Proposition 8.[94]

Church of Scientology

The San Diego branch of the Church of Scientology publicly supported the proposition by signing an online petition asking for Prop 8. This led to award-winning director, producer and writer Paul Haggis to call on Tommy Davis to denounce the signature.[95]

Davis responded to Haggis and told him that it was a single member of the San Diego branch which had signed the petition using the branch name and not a branch decision. Davis then stated that the man had been "handled."[95]

Haggis spent ten months trying to get Scientology to publicly denounce Prop 8, but Scientology remained silent and later said "Davis explained to Haggis that the church avoids taking overt political stands."[96] going further to explain that because they are a non-profit with tax exempt status, they cannot take a political stance or risk losing that status.[97]

Haggis resigned from Scientology after thirty-five years of membership and wrote in his resignation letter that "public sponsorship of Proposition 8, which succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California—rights that were granted them by the Supreme Court of our state—is a stain on the integrity of our organization and a stain on us personally. Our public association with that hate-filled legislation shames us."[95][98]

"Whether You Like It or Not" advertisement

In the months leading up to Election Day, Proposition 8 supporters released a commercial featuring San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom stating in a speech regarding same-sex marriage: "This door's wide open now. It's going to happen, whether you like it or not."[99] Some observers noted that polls shifted in favor of Proposition 8 following the release of the commercial; this, in turn, led to much speculation about Newsom's unwitting role in the passage of the amendment.[100][101][102]

Opponents

 
Official "Vote NO on Prop 8" logo

Opponents argued that "the freedom to marry is fundamental to our society", that the California constitution "should guarantee the same freedom and rights to everyone", and that the proposition "mandates one set of rules for gay and lesbian couples and another set for everyone else". They also argued that "equality under the law is a fundamental constitutional guarantee" (see Equal Protection Clause).[59]

Equality for All was the lead organization opposed to Proposition 8.[103] They also ran the NoOnProp8.com campaign.[104] As with the measure's proponents, opponents of the measure also included a number of political figures and religious organizations. Some non-partisan organizations and corporations, as well as the editorial boards of many of the state's major newspapers, also opposed the measure.

Political figures

 
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom speaks at an Anti-Proposition 8 Rally on the Sproul Plaza steps at UC Berkeley

Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Senator Barack Obama stated that while he personally considered marriage to be between a man and woman,[105] and supported civil unions that confer comparable rights rather than gay marriage,[106] he opposed "divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution... the U.S. Constitution or those of other states".[107] Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph Biden also opposed the proposition.[108] Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that although he opposed and twice vetoed legislative bills that would recognize same-sex marriage in California, he respected and would uphold the court's ruling and oppose the initiative and other attempts to amend the state's constitution.[109][110] The U.S. House Speaker, California Representative (8th District), Nancy Pelosi[111] along with other members of the California congressional delegation and both of California's U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, voiced their opposition to Proposition 8.[112] Also voicing their opposition were the Lieutenant Governor, State Controller John Chiang, former governor and Attorney General Jerry Brown, 42 of 80 members of the state assembly, half of the state senators, and the mayors of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego: Gavin Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Jerry Sanders, respectively.[113][114][115][116]

Religious organizations

All six Episcopal diocesan bishops in California jointly issued a statement opposing Proposition 8 on September 10, 2008.[117] Southern California's largest collection of rabbis, the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, voted to oppose Proposition 8.[118] Other Jewish groups who opposed Proposition 8 include Jewish Mosaic,[119] the American Jewish Committee, Progressive Jewish Alliance, National Council of Jewish Women, and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).[86] The ADL filed amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court of California, Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8.[120] Los Angeles Jews were more opposed to Prop 8 than any other religious group or ethnic group in the city. Seventy-eight percent of surveyed Jewish Angelenos voted against the measure while only 8% supported the measure; the remainder declined to respond.[121] The legislative ministry of the Unitarian Universalists opposed Proposition 8, and organized phone banks toward defeating the measure.[122] They saw opposition to the proposition as a civil rights and social justice issue and their actions against it as a continuation of their previous works in civil rights.

In addition, the California Council of Churches urged the "immediate removal of Proposition 8"—saying that it infringes on the freedom of religion for churches who wish to bless same-sex unions.[123]

Others

The League of Women Voters of California opposed Proposition 8 because "no person or group should suffer legal, economic or administrative discrimination".[124] Additionally, all but two of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's local chapters in California and NAACP national chairman Julian Bond and President Benjamin Jealous opposed Proposition 8.[125] Amnesty International also condemned Proposition 8, saying that "states should never withhold rights based on minority status".[126]

A coalition of Silicon Valley executives urged a 'No' vote on Proposition 8.[127] Google officially opposed Proposition 8 "as an issue of equality", and its founders donated $140,000 to the No on 8 campaign.[128][129][130] Apple Inc. also opposed Proposition 8 as a "fundamental" civil rights issue, and donated $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign.[130][131] Biotech leaders warned of potential damage to the state's $73 billion industry, citing Massachusetts as a top competitor for employees.[132]

Many members of the entertainment industry were opposed to Proposition 8.[133] Actor Tom Hanks, a strong supporter of same-sex marriage, was extremely outspoken about his opposition to the bill. Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg each donated different amounts of money to the opposition campaign "No on 8".[134] In 2010, the documentary film 8: The Mormon Proposition premiered to sell-out audiences at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously for a resolution to oppose Proposition 8.[135] The California Teachers Association donated one million dollars to fight Proposition 8.[136] Chancellor Robert Birgeneau of UC Berkeley urged a vote against the measure, claiming a likely threat to California's academic competitiveness if Proposition 8 is passed.[137]

Newspaper editorials

All ten of the state's largest newspapers editorialized against Proposition 8, including the Los Angeles Times,[138] and the San Francisco Chronicle.[139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147] Other papers to have editorialized in opposition include The New York Times,[148] La Opinión (Los Angeles),[149] and The Bakersfield Californian.[150]

Actions against supporters and opponents

See also: Protests against Proposition 8 supporters and November 15, 2008 anti-Proposition 8 protests

After the election, a number of protests were held against the referendum's passing. These included candlelight vigils outside organizations such as LDS churches that promoted the proposition.[151][152] Rallies against the amendment took place in California and across the country, with participants numbering in thousands.[153][154][155][156][157][158]

Boycotts were also a feature of public response to the outcome of the election. LGBT rights groups published lists of donors to the Yes on 8 campaign and organized boycotts of individuals or organizations who had promoted or donated to it.[159][160][161] Targets of the boycotts included the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, El Coyote Cafe, California Musical Theatre, and the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel.[161][162][163]

Some supporters of Proposition 8 reported receiving death threats, some of which claimed to be "stemming from Prop 8".[164][165] Some LDS churches were vandalized with spray paint.[166][167]

Fresno-area supporters of gay marriage were also harassed; "No On 8" signs at the Clovis Unitarian Universalist Church were torn up, with Reverend Bryan Jessup alleging that his church experienced vandalism "every night".[164] Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Jay Boyarsky attributed a surge in anti-gay hate crimes, from 3 in 2007 to 14 in 2008, to controversy over Proposition 8.[168]

Pre-decision opinion polls

Various opinion polls were conducted to estimate the outcome of the proposition. Those margins with differences less than their margins of error are marked as "n.s.", meaning not significant (see Statistical significance). Those margins considered statistically significant are indicated with the percentage points and the side favored in the poll, as either "pro" for in favor of the proposition's passage (e.g., 1% pro), or "con" for against its passage (e.g., 1% con).

According to the director of the Field Poll, the discrepancy between the pre-election polls and ballot results is because "regular church-goers ... were more prone than other voters to be influenced by last-minute appeals to conform to orthodox church positions when voting on a progressive social issue like same-sex marriage."[169]

Date of opinion poll Conducted by Sample size
(likely voters) 		In favor Against Undecided Margin Margin of Error
October 29–31, 2008[170] SurveyUSA 637 47% 50% 3% n.s. ±4%
October 18–28, 2008[171] The Field Poll 966 44% 49% 7% 5% con ±3.3%
October 12–19, 2008[172] Public Policy Institute of California 1,186 44% 52% 4% 8% con ±3%
October 15–16, 2008[173] SurveyUSA 615 48% 45% 7% n.s. ±4%
October 4–5, 2008[174][175] SurveyUSA 670 47% 42% 10% 5% pro ±3.9%
September 23–24, 2008[176][177] SurveyUSA 661 44% 49% 8% 5% con ±3.9%
September 9–16, 2008[178] Public Policy Institute of California 1,157 41% 55% 4% 14% con ±3%
September 5–14, 2008[179] The Field Poll 830 38% 55% 7% 17% con ±3.5%
August 12–19, 2008[180][181] Public Policy Institute of California 1,047 40% 54% 6% 14% con ±3%
July 8–14, 2008[18][182] The Field Poll 672 42% 51% 7% 9% con ±3.9%
May 17–26, 2008[183] The Field Poll 1,052 42% 51% 7% 9% con ±3.2%
May 22, 2008[184] Los Angeles Times/KTLA 705 54% 35% 11% 19% pro ±4%

Results

 
County Results
Proposition 8[1]
Choice Votes %
  Yes 7,001,084 52.24
No 6,401,482 47.76
Valid votes 13,402,566 97.52
Invalid or blank votes 340,611 2.48
Total votes 13,743,177 100.00
Proposition 8 results (excluding invalid votes)
Yes
7,001,084 (52.2%) 		No
6,401,482 (47.8%)
▲
50%

Amending the California Constitution by voter initiative requires a simple majority to be enacted.[185]

Edison/Mitofsky conducted an exit poll on behalf of the National Election Pool which is the only source of data on voter demographics in California in the 2008 election.[186][187] The statistical trends from the exit poll of 2,240 voters suggested that an array of voters came out both in opposition to and in support of Proposition 8, with no single demographic group making up most of either the Yes or No vote. The National Election Pool poll showed that support for Proposition 8 was strong amongst African American voters, interviewed in the exit poll with 70% in favor, more than any other racial group.[188] Their support was considered crucial to the proposition's passing, since African Americans made up an unusually larger percentage of voters that year, due to the presence of Barack Obama on the ballot.[189] Polls by both the Associated Press and CNN mirrored this data, reporting support among black voters to be at 70%[190] and 75%,[191] respectively. A later study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), examining the black vote only from five counties within the state, suggested that black support was closer to 58%.[192][193]

Hispanic and Latino voters also voted for Proposition 8.[194]

Those who described themselves as religious were the strongest supporters of Prop 8.[195] According to the NGLTF study, self-identified Catholics and Protestants supported Prop 8 by measures of 55% and 66%, respectively,[196] while Jews overwhelmingly opposed it, with support at only 17%.[197][198] Young voters were more likely to have voted against the ballot measure than older voters, while Republicans were more likely to have supported the measure than were Democrats.[199]

County breakdown

Post-election events

See also: Protests against Proposition 8 supporters

Immediate response

 
A post Prop 8 demonstration at the State Capitol

In California, a constitutional amendment passed by the electorate takes effect the day after the election.[185] On the evening of November 4 the "Yes on 8" campaign issued a statement by Ron Prentice, the chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, saying "The people of California stood up for traditional marriage and reclaimed this great institution."[200] The organizers of the "No on Prop 8" campaign issued a statement on November 6 saying, "Tuesday's vote was deeply disappointing to all who believe in equal treatment under the law."[201] The counties of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Yolo, Kern, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, San Diego, San Bernardino, Sacramento, and Tuolumne stopped issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples the day after the election.[202][203][204][205]

Fines

Following an audit by the California Franchise Tax Board, the proponents of Proposition 8 are facing a fine of $49,000 for violating California campaign finance disclosure laws, by failing to report $1,169,292 in contributions under the timelines required by state law.[206]

Protests

Following the passage of Proposition 8, mass protests took place across the state. These included protests outside the Los Angeles California Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Westwood, Los Angeles;[207] a march through Hollywood that blocked traffic and elicited police intervention;[208] and a candlelight vigil in front of the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center, along with a protest in front of the California State Capitol.[209][210]

In San Francisco, thousands gathered in front of the City Hall to protest the proposition and to perform a candlelit vigil. Speakers who voiced their opinion in opposition of Proposition 8 included state senator Mark Leno and Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom.[211]

Outside California, a protest at the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah[212] was addressed by local gay rights supporters including former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and three gay members of the Utah Legislature: Senator Scott McCoy and Representatives Christine Johnson and Jackie Biskupski.[213] On November 12, 2008, more than 10,000 protesters gathered outside the Manhattan New York Temple to protest the support of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for Proposition 8.[214] On November 15, 2008, tens of thousands of people in cities around the United States participated in rallies to protest the passage of Proposition 8 and to promote the expansion of civil marriage to same-sex couples throughout the nation.[215]

Boycotts

The passage of Proposition 8 led to opponents responding by publicly shaming its supporters as bigots and boycotting supporters' businesses and employers. On November 7, 2008, a blogger revealed that Scott Eckern, then Artistic Director of California Musical Theatre, had made a personal donation of $1,000 to the "Yes on 8" campaign.[216] All campaign contributions of $1,000 or more required a name, home and occupation be listed. On November 10, gay artists condemned Eckern and called for a boycott of California Musical Theatre.[217] On November 11, Eckern issued an apology on the online site Playbill stating that a similar donation had been made to a human rights organization that includes gay rights as one of its causes.[218] On November 12, Eckern resigned from California Musical Theatre. Executive producer of the CMT Richard Lewis stated that Eckern was not forced to resign but did so of his own accord.[219]

Richard Raddon, Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, also resigned due to boycotts by the gay community.[220]

Protests in California were marred by racial incidents. Due to their support of Proposition 8, reported as high as 70 percent, some African Americans attending events were allegedly subjected to racial epithets and felt threatened. California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass stated she was disturbed by the treatment of African Americans in the aftermath of the passage of the proposition. In reaction to the racial incidents, Evan Wolfson said, "In any fight, there will be people who say things they shouldn't say, but that shouldn't divert attention from what the vast majority are saying against this, that it's a terrible injustice."[221][222]

Media

To protest the passage of Proposition 8, musical theatre composer Marc Shaiman wrote a satiric mini-musical called "Prop 8 — The Musical".[223] The three-minute video was distributed on the internet at FunnyOrDie.com. The cast includes Jack Black (who plays Jesus), Nicole Parker, Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Allison Janney, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Margaret Cho, Rashida Jones, Kathy Najimy, Sarah Chalke, Jennifer Lewis, John Hill and other celebrities. It was directed by Adam Shankman. The video satirizes Christian churches that selectively pick and choose biblical doctrines to follow.[224] It received 1.2 million internet hits in its first day,[225][226] won the 2009 Webby Award category Comedy: Individual Short or Episode,[227] and won a GLAAD media award.[228]

In 2010, 8: The Mormon Proposition, a documentary alleging the involvement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the passage of Proposition 8. Written by Reed Cowan and narrated by Dustin Lance Black, the film divided critics over a perceived heavy-handed approach to the church's involvement; it won the 2011 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary.

In 2011, 8, a play re-enacting the proceedings of Perry v. Brown in a condensed manner of documentary theatre, was premiered on Broadway.

Controversies about campaign financing and donations

On November 13, 2008, Fred Karger of the group Californians Against Hate filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that campaign finance reports filed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under-reported its actual Proposition 8 campaign expenses as $2,078.97.[229][230] Karger charged that the Church's failure to report "non-monetary contributions" placed it in violation of California's Political Reform Act. Church spokesman Scott Trotter denied the charges, saying the church had "fully complied with the reporting requirements" and a "further report will be filed on or before [...the] due date, Jan. 30, 2009."[231]

In a report filed with the California Secretary of State's office January 30, 2009, the LDS Church reported its non-monetary expenditures as $189,903.58.[232] On January 31, the San Francisco Chronicle stated, "While the deadline for the report, which covers the period from July 1 to Dec. 31, is [February 2], many campaign contributions by major donors and independent committees must be reported within days after they're made." The article further stated that the executive director of the FPPC stated that the LDS church was still under investigation, and "In general, however, 'cases like these hinge over what had to be reported and when it had to be reported.' A late report covering disputed filings 'wouldn't remove the obligation to file on time' but would be considered by investigators."[233]

The Boston Herald reported on February 2, 2009:[234]

While many church members had donated directly to the Yes on 8 campaign—some estimates of Mormon giving range as high as $20 million—the church itself had previously reported little direct campaign activity. But in the filing made Friday, the Mormon church reported thousands in travel expenses, such as airline tickets, hotel rooms and car rentals for the campaign. The church also reported $96,849.31 worth of 'compensated staff time'—hours that church employees spent working to pass the same-sex marriage ban.

In a statement issued February 2, 2009, the LDS Church responded to "erroneous news reports", saying its subsequent disclosure was "in no way prompted by an investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission," that "We believe we have complied with California law," and that the report's filing date met the January 31, 2009 deadline:[235]

The Church, like other organizations on both sides of the ballot issue, was required to publicly file these donations by the 31 January deadline. The Church has been filing required contribution reports throughout the campaign. Those earlier donations 'initially stated' were filed for specific time periods prior to this last reporting period, as required by law. Other groups are also filing their final contribution reports to meet the same deadline.

On January 7, 2009, supporters of Proposition 8 filed a federal lawsuit to block public disclosure of their donations. Alleging threats against their lives as well as other forms of harassment, the lawsuit also requested a preliminary injunction that ordered the California Secretary of State to remove information about donations posted on its website. Opponents of Proposition 8 called it "hypocritical" that its supporters would refer to their support of the measure as the "will of the people" while seeking to overturn voter-approved campaign disclosure laws.[236] U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. denied that request on January 29; he said that the public had the right to know about donors of political causes, that he did not agree that the plaintiffs had a probability of success in court, and that they had not proven they would suffer "irreparable injury" if he did not grant the preliminary injunction.[237]

Litigation

California Supreme Court cases

 
Protesters at the "Day of Decision" rally marched up Market Street in downtown San Francisco following the California Supreme Court ruling.
 
Pro and Anti-Proposition 8 protesters rally in front of the San Francisco City Hall on the day of the Supreme Court hearings.
Main article: Strauss v. Horton

After the passage of Proposition 8, a number of lawsuits were filed by against the state and state officials with the intent of overturning the measure and arguing that Proposition 8 should not have retroactive effect on existing same-sex marriages. On November 13, 2008, the California Supreme Court asked California Attorney General Jerry Brown for an opinion on whether the Court should accept these cases for review and whether the measure should be suspended while they decide the case. On November 19, the Court accepted three lawsuits challenging Proposition 8 but denied the requests to stay its enforcement.[238] The Court asked for final briefs by January 5, 2009. Oral arguments were held on March 5, 2009.

On Tuesday May 26 the court ruled that "The Amendment to the State Constitution referred to as Proposition 8 is valid and enforceable from the moment it was passed."[citation needed] The court also held that "Proposition 8 must be understood as creating a limited exception to the state equal protection clause."[239] Justice Moreno in his lone dissenting opinion, argued that such a change to the Constitution should only be implemented "by a constitutional revision to modify the equal protection clause to protect some, rather than all, similarly situated persons" and not by a simple majority vote.

The Court did rule that their decision cannot be applied to retroactively annul marriages that were transacted while the practice was legal in the state of California.[240] Proposition 8 has no retroactive effect. The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously on May 26, 2009, that the approximately 18,000 same-sex marriages that had occurred prior to Proposition 8's passage would still be valid and must continue to be recognized in the state, since the amendment does not state explicitly that it would nullify the same-sex marriages performed before it took effect.[240]

Later legislation clarified that same-sex couples who married out-of-state within the window of legality would also retain their legal marriage rights. The bill was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on October 11, 2009.[241]

Federal challenges

Smelt v. United States

Immediately following the passage of Proposition 8, Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer filed suit in the Southern Division of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, in Orange County. In the case, Smelt v. United States, the couple argued that Proposition 8 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act violated the Equal Protection Clause of the American constitution.[242] The United States Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the case because the "plaintiffs are married, and their challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") poses a different set of questions."[243] On July 15, 2009, District Judge Carter dismissed the part of Smelt that challenged Proposition 8, finding that the fact that the plaintiffs were already legally married in California meant they had no standing to challenge Proposition 8. The challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, however, remained intact.[244] The remainder of the case was heard on August 3, 2009, in an Orange County district court.[245] The lawsuit was thrown out because the two men had filed suit against the federal government in a state court, a technicality which meant the suit needed to be re-filed.[246]

Perry v. Schwarzenegger

Main article: Perry v. Schwarzenegger

On the day of Strauss v. Horton's decision, the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to challenge the validity of Proposition 8. Lambda Legal, the ACLU, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights have since announced their support for the lawsuit.[247] San Francisco filed a motion to and was granted intervenor status in the case, saying that their work in In re Marriage Cases and Strauss v. Horton provided them with "extensive evidence and proposed findings on strict scrutiny factors and factual rebuttals to long claimed justifications for marriage discrimination".[248]

California Attorney General, and former and later again Governor Jerry Brown backed the lawsuit, saying that Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution and should be struck down.[249] Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took a more neutral path,[250] saying that he supported the lawsuit because the Proposition 8 conflict asks "important constitutional questions that require and warrant judicial determination." Because this means that the Californian government will not defend the law in court,[251] the proponents of Proposition 8's campaign were granted the right to intervene as defendants.[252] The case was first heard on July 2, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, Judge Vaughn R. Walker presiding.[253]

In an act unprecedented in California history both the Governor and Attorney General refused to defend a constitutional amendment.[254]

In August, Judge Walker heard further requests for intervenor status and ordered a trial set for January 2010. On August 4, 2010, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional, but at the same time temporarily provided for a suspension of the ruling while he considered whether to grant an indefinite suspension pending appeal.[255] Walker lifted the stay on August 12, 2010, thus allowing same-sex marriages to be performed as of August 18, 2010.[256]

On August 16, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit imposed a stay of all new same-sex marriages in the State of California. It also scheduled an accelerated time table for hearing an appeal of Judge Walker's ruling.[257] Before the appeal trial begins, there will be a December 6, 2010[needs update] hearing on who has legal standing to appeal the District Court's decision and whether the proposition violates equal protection rights.[258]

Ballot repeal effort

On April 30, 2009, the members of 'Yes! on Equality' submitted a ballot initiative dubbed "California Marriage Equality Act" to the Attorney General's office, requesting a title and summary. The text of the ballot would repeal Article I; Section 7.5 of the Californian Constitution as well as clarifying that no school curriculum will be changed and no clergy will be forced to perform any "service or duty incongruent with their faith". Yes! on Equality had until August 17, 2009, to gather 694,354 signatures in order to qualify for the June 2010 ballot,[259][260] A petition for initiative for the November 2010 ballot also failed to obtain enough signatures.[261][262]

Several LGBT groups of color (including API Equality-LA, HONOR PAC, and the Jordan/Rustin Coalition) published a statement "Prepare to Prevail,"[263] in which they argue that the ballot repeal effort should be delayed until 2012. As of February 2012, the repeal effort was canceled in light of victorious court cases.[264]

On February 14, 2023, following comments by Clarence Thomas in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that call for a review of Obergefell v. Hodges, Evan Low introduced ACA-5,[265] a legislatively referred constitutional amendment repealing the ban on same-sex marriage for the 2024 California elections; activists agreed that 2024 would be the earliest date for a ballot measure to prevent competition of attention with 2022 California Proposition 1.[266][267]

In July 2023, the California State Senate passed ACA-5 in a unanimous vote, after a first unanimous vote took place in the California State Assembly in June 2023, therefore placing the proposal to repeal Prop 8 on the ballot in 2024.[268]

Legal challenges

Following the passing of Proposition 8 in 2008, and the subsequent mass protests, several lawsuits were filed in both the State Supreme Court and in the Federal District Court.

State court: Strauss v. Horton

Main article: Strauss v. Horton

In considering the cases within the state courts, on November 13, 2008, the California Supreme Court asked California Attorney General Jerry Brown for an opinion on whether the Court should accept these cases for review and whether the measure should be suspended while they decide the case. On November 19, the Court accepted three lawsuits challenging Proposition 8, which consolidated into Strauss v. Horton.[269] The Court rendered its decision on May 26, 2009. The majority decision was that Proposition 8 "carved out a limited [or 'narrow'] exception to the state equal protection clause"; Justice Moreno dissented that exceptions to the equal protection clause could not be made by any majority since its whole purpose was to protect minorities against the will of a majority. Until overturned by Hollingsworth v. Perry (below), the ruling established that Proposition 8 was valid as voted, but that marriages performed before it went into effect would remain valid.

Federal court

Main article: Hollingsworth v. Perry

Perry v. Schwarzenegger

After the California Supreme Court upheld the voter initiative, a suit, Perry v. Schwarzenegger (later Hollingsworth v. Perry), was filed in a Federal District Court in San Francisco. On August 4, 2010, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8, stating it is "...unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause because no compelling state interest justifies denying same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry."[270] The court also determined that "Proposition 8 violated the Equal Protection Clause because there is no rational basis for limiting the designation of 'marriage' to opposite-sex couples."[271] The court also stayed the ruling; the voter initiative was to remain in effect pending appeal.[20] On August 12, Walker announced his decision to lift the stay (which would have allowed same-sex marriages to be performed) as of August 18, 2010.[272][273] However, on August 16, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit indefinitely extended the District Court's stay, stopping new same-sex marriages in the state of California pending appeal. It also scheduled an accelerated time table for hearing an appeal of Walker's ruling.[274]

Perry v. Brown (on appeal)

As the State of California chose not to appeal the ruling, an appeal was sought by two parties—the initiative proponents, and Imperial County (via its deputy clerk). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the question of standing first. On January 4, 2011, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Imperial County did not have standing to intervene in the lawsuit (by now called Perry v. Brown)—the formal reason being the county's appeal had been "untimely", but also that the appellant was the county's deputy clerk, and precedent existed in other cases that a deputy clerk could not 'represent' a county.

To address the question whether the initiative proponents had particularized standing (that is, standing either via personal interest, or standing to represent the State's interest), the Ninth Circuit certified a question to the California Supreme Court on January 4, 2011, asking that court to rule whether, under the California Constitution or otherwise under California law, non-governmental proponents of an initiative have standing to appeal when the State is no longer willing to defend it.[275] On February 16, 2011, the California Supreme Court unanimously agreed to address the Ninth Circuit's request.[276] The court set an expedited schedule for the hearing[277] and heard oral arguments on September 6, 2011.[278] On November 17, 2011, the California Supreme Court issued an advisory opinion that the proponents of Proposition 8 did have standing, and could defend it.[279][280]

Ninth Circuit ruling
 
Seal of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

On February 7, 2012, a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2–1 majority opinion affirming the judgment in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, which declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional, saying it violated the Equal Protection Clause. The opinion, written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt and joined by Judge Michael Hawkins, states that Proposition 8 did nothing more than lessen the status and dignity of gays and lesbians, and classify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.[281] The court found that the people of California, by using their initiative power to target a minority group and withdraw the right to marry they once possessed under the California State Constitution, violated the federal Constitution.[282]

The court concluded that the trial court had correctly found Proposition 8 to have no purpose other than to impose the majority's private disapproval of gays, lesbians, and their relationships through the public law, and to take away from them the designation of marriage and its recognized societal status.[283] The findings of fact and expert witness testimony in District Court played an important role in this appellate decision, emphasizing that it is unreasonable to believe Proposition 8 was enacted to: promote childrearing by biological parents, encourage procreation, be cautious in social change, protect religious liberty, or control children's education.[284] The court declared that it is "implausible to think that denying two men or two women the right to call themselves married could somehow bolster the stability of families headed by one man and one woman".[285][286]

The dissenting judge, Judge N. Randy Smith, noted in his dissent that states do legitimately prohibit sexual relationships condemned by society such as incest, bigamy, and bestiality, and impose age limits for marriage without violating constitutional rights.[287] He stated that "gays and lesbians are not a suspect or quasi-suspect class" and are thus not entitled to the courts' increased scrutiny of laws that affect them.[287] He wrote, "The family structure of two committed biological parents—one man and one woman—is the optimal partnership for raising children." He also said that governments have a legitimate interest in "a responsible procreation theory, justifying the inducement of marital recognition only for opposite-sex couples" because only they can have children.[287] He urged judicial restraint, that the justices should refrain from striking down Proposition 8.[288]

En banc review denied

On February 21, 2012, proponents requested to have to the case reviewed en banc by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.[289] If granted, en banc review could have taken a year or more, which would have delayed possible U.S. Supreme Court review.[289] Pending the appeal, a stay was continued, barring any marriages from taking place.[290] On June 5, 2012, the full Ninth Circuit refused to rehear the case; the stay would remain in place pending final action by the Supreme Court.[291]

The Ninth Court's ruling was subsequently vacated (withdrawn) although it affirmed the district court ruling, since the Supreme Court later determined that the proponents of Proposition 8 had not had standing to appeal the district court's ruling.

Hollingsworth v. Perry (U.S. Supreme Court)

The proposition's proponents filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on July 30, 2012, requesting that the Supreme Court review the case.[292] Briefs in opposition both from the individual respondents and from the City and County of San Francisco were filed August 24, and the petitioners replied on September 4.[293] On December 7, 2012, the Supreme Court granted the proponents' petition for certiorari[294] and asked to be briefed for arguments concerning the petitioners' Article III standing,[295] amid considerable anticipation of a finding of a lack of justiciability in order to avoid a holding on the merits.[296] Oral arguments were heard on March 26, 2013.[24]

Parties who lodged amicus briefs with the court included: Judge Georg Ress and the Marriage Law Foundation; William N. Eskridge Jr., et al.; the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence; the Public Advocate of the United States, et al.; the National Association of Evangelicals, et al.; the American Civil Rights Union; Judicial Watch, Inc., et al.; the Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund, Inc.; the Foundation for Moral Law; and the state of Indiana, et al.[293]

The Supreme Court issued a 5–4 decision on June 26, 2013.[297] Chief Justice Roberts wrote for the majority, and was joined by Justices Scalia, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan.[297] Justices Kennedy, Thomas, Alito, and Sotomayor were in the minority.[298] The Court found the proponents did not have standing to appeal in federal court. To have standing, they "must have suffered an injury in fact, thus giving [them] a sufficiently concrete interest in the outcome of the issue in dispute".[11] Because no injury had been shown, the appeal to the Ninth Circuit should have been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. (This only applied to the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court cases.) The Court returned the case to the Ninth Circuit with instructions to dismiss the appeal. This left the district court's ruling overturning Proposition 8 as the final ruling in the case. Because the appeal was decided on the question of standing, the Supreme Court did not examine nor rule on whether in their view Proposition 8 had violated the U.S. Constitution.

Justice Kennedy, writing for the minority, said the views of the California Supreme Court on the proponents' standing should have been respected,[11] because "the basic premise of the initiative process [and] the essence of democracy is that the right to make law rests in the people and flows to the government, not the other way around".[7]: 13 

Aftermath

 
Plaintiffs Perry and Stier at the June 30, 2013, Pride Parade in San Francisco after their marriage

On June 28, 2013, the Ninth Circuit lifted its stay of the district court's ruling, enabling same-sex marriages to resume;[12] minutes afterward, plaintiffs Perry and Stier became the first couple in California to legally wed under state law since the enactment of Proposition 8 in 2008, doing so at San Francisco City Hall at 4:45 PDT, with California's Attorney General Kamala Harris officiating at the ceremony.[299]

There were two legal challenges made to the implementation of the ruling, both subsequently denied:

Federal court legal challenge to removal of stay

On June 29, 2013, the proponents of Proposition 8 filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the Ninth Circuit's lifting of its stay, claiming it had been "premature".[300] The next day, June 30, 2013, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, responsible for overseeing the Ninth Circuit, denied the motion without comment.[301]

State court legal challenges to statewide implementation of ruling

Even before the Ninth Circuit lifted its stay, Proposition 8 proponents had expressed the intent to fight on, by asserting that the ruling only applies to the persons or counties involved and would be unlawful for other couples or counties to comply with it.[302]

Two petitions to this effect were filed with the California Supreme Court, by proponents (Hollingsworth v. O'Connell and Brown, July 12, 2013) and—against county policy—by a San Diego County Clerk (Dronenburg, July 19, 2013: dropped August 2 as duplicative). The proponents' petition challenged the state and county clerk responses to the ruling in Perry, asserting that, in their view, only two counties were affected by the ruling and other counties had no legal capacity to discretionally do likewise; that the plaintiffs, not representing a class, had their relief while others who were not plaintiffs had no change to their position within the law; and that county clerks were not in fact covered by the ruling and were therefore bound to comply with the law as it stood.

This position was rejected by California's governor, who on legal advice[303] ordered the change to license issuance, according to the ruling.[304] California's Attorney General Kamala Harris noted that "state officials are obligated to govern marriage equally in all counties and that [United States District Court for the Northern District of California Chief Judge Vaughn] Walker's ruling specifically covers those officials."[302] San Francisco's city attorney stated that it was "the most basic concepts of American law ... that a state court will not overrule the federal judiciary".[303] Twenty-four County Clerks stated, through their lawyer, that their role was "ultimately state supervised" and it would be unfeasible to have a "patchwork" of different marriage criteria varying between the counties of a single state.[305]

On July 15, the California Supreme Court unanimously declined the request to order an immediate halt to same-sex marriages in the state pending a decision on the petition. The court requested arguments from the parties on the points raised in their petition.[306] On August 14, 2013, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected the challenge by Proposition 8 proponents.[307]

See also

References

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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to California Proposition 8 (2008).
 
Wikinews has news related to:
Proposition 8
  • The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision Affirming Perry v Schwarzenegger (Prop 8 Unconstitutional)
  • Video—Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Trial on the Merits
  • Video—Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Trial on Recusal
  • : Organizational sponsor of Proposition 8
  • No On Prop. 8: Organizational opponent to Proposition 8
  • , Title and summary, analysis, arguments and rebuttals, and the text of the proposition.
  • from California Attorney General website
  • The Money Behind the 2008 Same-Sex Partnership Ballot Measures—OpenSecrets
  • Proposition 8 map a detailed hyper-linked map on David Leips election atlas.
  • Hollingsworth v. Perry at SCOTUSblog
  • from the City Attorney of San Francisco

February 15, 2024
2008, california, proposition, proposition, redirects, here, 2018, proposition, 2018, california, proposition, other, uses, proposition, disambiguation, proposition, known, informally, prop, california, ballot, proposition, state, constitutional, amendment, in. Proposition 8 redirects here For the 2018 Proposition see 2018 California Proposition 8 For other uses see Proposition 8 disambiguation Proposition 8 known informally as Prop 8 was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same sex marriage it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in court The proposition was created by opponents of same sex marriage in advance 2 of the California Supreme Court s May 2008 appeal ruling In re Marriage Cases which followed the short lived 2004 same sex weddings controversy and found the previous ban on same sex marriage Proposition 22 2000 unconstitutional Proposition 8 was ultimately ruled unconstitutional by a federal court on different grounds in 2010 although the court decision did not go into effect until June 26 2013 following the conclusion of proponents appeals Proposition 8November 4 2008Eliminates Rights of Same Sex Couples to MarryResultsChoice Votes Yes 7 001 084 52 24 No 6 401 482 47 76 Valid votes 13 402 566 97 52 Invalid or blank votes 340 611 2 48 Total votes 13 743 177 100 00 Registered voters turnout 17 304 428 79 42 Yes 70 80 60 70 50 60 No 70 80 60 70 50 60 Source California Secretary of State 1 Proposition 8 countermanded the 2008 ruling by adding the same provision as in Proposition 22 to the California Constitution providing that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California thereby superseding the 2008 ruling 3 4 5 As an amendment it was ruled constitutional by the California Supreme Court in Strauss v Horton in 2009 on the grounds that it carved out a limited or narrow exception to the state equal protection clause in his dissent Justice Carlos R Moreno wrote that exceptions to the equal protection clause could not be made by any majority since its whole purpose was to protect minorities against the will of a majority Legal challenges to Proposition 8 were presented by opponents quickly after its approval Following affirmation by the state courts two same sex couples filed a lawsuit against the initiative in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in the case Perry v Schwarzenegger later Hollingsworth v Perry In August 2010 Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the amendment was unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment 6 since it purported to re remove rights from a disfavored class only with no rational basis The official proponents justifications for the measure were analyzed in over fifty pages covering eighty findings of fact The state government supported the ruling and refused to defend the law 7 The ruling was stayed pending appeal by the proponents of the initiative On February 7 2012 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2 1 decision reached the same conclusion as the district court but on narrower grounds The court ruled that it was unconstitutional for California to grant marriage rights to same sex couples only to take them away shortly after The ruling was stayed pending appeal to the United States Supreme Court 8 On June 26 2013 the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision on the appeal in the case Hollingsworth v Perry ruling that proponents of initiatives such as Proposition 8 did not possess legal standing in their own right to defend the resulting law in federal court either to the Supreme Court or previously to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Therefore the Supreme Court vacated the decision of the Ninth Circuit and remanded the case for further proceedings The decision left the district court s 2010 ruling intact 9 10 11 On June 28 2013 the Ninth Circuit on remand dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and dissolved their previous stay of the district court s ruling enabling Governor Jerry Brown to order same sex marriages to resume 12 The passage of Proposition 8 received widespread media coverage over the amendment s effect on the concurrent 2008 presidential and congressional elections as well as the pre election effects Proposition 8 had on California s reputation as a historically LGBT friendly state and the same sex marriage debate that had started after same sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts through a 2004 court decision After the results were certified and same sex marriages ceased supporters of the initiative were targeted by opponents with actions ranging from some opponents disclosing supporter donations and boycotting proponents businesses to others threatening supporters with death and vandalizing churches A ballot proposal to formally repeal Prop 8 from California s constitution was passed by the California State Legislature in July 2023 The vote will take place during the 2024 elections Contents 1 Overview 2 History of the ballot initiative 2 1 Full text 2 2 Pre election legal challenges 2 2 1 Petition to remove proposition from ballot 2 2 2 Challenge to title and summary 3 Campaign 3 1 Campaign funding and spending 3 2 Proponents 3 2 1 Political figures 3 2 2 Religious organizations 3 2 3 Others 3 2 4 Church of Scientology 3 2 5 Whether You Like It or Not advertisement 3 3 Opponents 3 3 1 Political figures 3 3 2 Religious organizations 3 3 3 Others 3 3 4 Newspaper editorials 3 4 Actions against supporters and opponents 4 Pre decision opinion polls 5 Results 5 1 County breakdown 6 Post election events 6 1 Immediate response 6 2 Fines 6 3 Protests 6 4 Boycotts 6 5 Media 7 Controversies about campaign financing and donations 8 Litigation 8 1 California Supreme Court cases 8 2 Federal challenges 8 2 1 Smelt v United States 8 2 2 Perry v Schwarzenegger 9 Ballot repeal effort 10 Legal challenges 10 1 State court Strauss v Horton 10 2 Federal court 10 2 1 Perry v Schwarzenegger 10 2 2 Perry v Brown on appeal 10 2 2 1 Ninth Circuit ruling 10 2 2 2 En banc review denied 10 2 3 Hollingsworth v Perry U S Supreme Court 10 3 Aftermath 11 See also 12 References 13 External linksOverviewIn 2000 the State of California adopted Proposition 22 which as an ordinary statute forbade recognition or licensing of same sex marriages in the state During February and March 2004 San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directed the licensing of same sex marriages on the basis of the state s equal protection clause prompted also by recent events including George W Bush s proposed constitutional ban a possible legal case by Campaign for California Families CCF and a Supreme Court of Massachusetts ruling deeming same sex marriage bans unconstitutional and permitting them from May 2004 While only lasting a month before being overruled this was supported by other cities such as San Jose 13 gained global attention and led to the case In re Marriage Cases in which Proposition 22 was found San Francisco County Superior Court March 14 2005 and confirmed upon appeal California Supreme Court May 15 2008 to be unconstitutional Proposition 8 was created by opponents of same sex marriage prior to the final ruling on In re Marriage Cases as a voter ballot initiative and voted on at the time of the November 2008 elections Its wording was precisely the same as Proposition 22 which as an ordinary statute had been invalidated in 2008 but by re positioning it as a State constitutional amendment rather than a legislative statute it was able to circumvent the ruling from In re Marriage Cases 14 The proposition did not affect domestic partnerships in California 15 nor following subsequent legal rulings did it reverse same sex marriages that had been performed during the interim period May to November 2008 i e after In re Marriage Cases but before Proposition 8 16 17 18 Proposition 8 came into immediate effect on November 5 2008 the day after the elections Demonstrations and protests occurred across the state and nation Same sex couples and government entities including couples who had married before then filed numerous lawsuits with the California Supreme Court challenging the proposition s validity and effect on previously administered same sex marriages In Strauss v Horton the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8 but allowed the existing same sex marriages to stand under the grandfather clause principle Justice Carlos R Moreno dissented that exceptions to the equal protection clause could not be made by any majority since its whole purpose was to protect minorities against the will of a majority Although upheld in State court Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional by the federal courts In Perry v Schwarzenegger United States District Court Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8 on August 4 2010 ruling that it violated both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U S Constitution 19 Walker issued a stay injunction against enforcing Proposition 8 and a stay to determine suspension of his ruling pending appeal 20 21 The State of California did not appeal the ruling with which it had agreed anyway leaving the initiative proponents and one county to seek an appeal On appeal a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled the county had no right of appeal and asked the California Supreme Court to rule whether the proponents of Prop 8 had the right to appeal known as standing if the State did not do so The California Supreme Court ruled that they did The Ninth Circuit affirmed the federal district court s decision on February 7 2012 22 but the stay remained in place as appeals continued to the U S Supreme Court 23 which heard oral arguments in the appeal Hollingsworth v Perry on March 26 2013 24 On June 26 2013 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and ruled that the Ninth Circuit had erred in allowing the previous appeal since in line with Article III of the Constitution and many prior cases unanimous on the point being an initiative proponents is not enough by itself to have federal court standing or appeal a ruling in federal court This left the original federal district court ruling against Proposition 8 as the outcome and same sex marriages resumed almost immediately afterwards History of the ballot initiativeProposition 8 ballot title Eliminates Rights of Same Sex Couples to Marry Initiative Constitutional Amendment originally titled the California Marriage Protection Act 25 26 was a California ballot proposition that changed the California Constitution to add a new section 7 5 to Article I which reads Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California 3 4 5 This change restricted the definition of marriage to opposite sex couples and eliminated same sex couples right to marry thereby overriding portions of the ruling of In re Marriage Cases by carving out an exception to the preexisting scope of the privacy and due process clauses 27 of the state constitution To qualify for the ballot Proposition 8 needed 694 354 valid petition signatures equal to 8 of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2006 general election The initiative proponents submitted 1 120 801 signatures and on June 2 2008 the initiative qualified for the November 4 2008 election ballot through the random sample signature check 28 Full text Proposition 8 consisted of two sections Its full text was 29 SECTION 1 Title This measure shall be known and may be cited as the California Marriage Protection Act SECTION 2 Article I Section 7 5 is added to the California Constitution to read Sec 7 5 Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California Pre election legal challenges Petition to remove proposition from ballot Further information California Constitution Amendments and revisions On July 16 2008 the California Supreme Court denied a petition calling for the removal of Proposition 8 from the November ballot The petition asserted the proposition should not be on the ballot on the grounds it was a constitutional revision that only the legislature or a constitutional convention could place before voters Opponents also argued that the petitions circulated to qualify the measure for the ballot inaccurately summarized its effect The court denied the petition without comment 30 As a general rule it is improper for courts to adjudicate pre election challenges to a measure s substantive validity 31 The question of whether Proposition 8 is a constitutional amendment or constitutional revision was ruled on by the California Supreme Court on May 26 2009 and found that it was not a revision and therefore would be upheld They also declared that the same sex marriages performed prior to the passing of Prop 8 would remain valid 32 Challenge to title and summary The measure was titled Eliminates Rights of Same Sex Couples to Marry Initiative Constitutional Amendment The ballot summary read that the measure changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry in California 33 34 Proponents of the measure objected to the wording of the ballot title and summary on the grounds that they were argumentative and prejudicial The resulting legal petition Jansson v Bowen 35 was dismissed August 7 2008 by California Superior Court Judge Timothy M Frawley who ruled that the title and summary includes an essentially verbatim recital of the text of the measure itself 36 and that the change was valid because the measure did in fact eliminate a right upheld by the California Supreme Court nbsp As California State Attorney General Jerry Brown shown here campaigning for Governor in 2010 had the ballot s description and title changed from Limit on Marriage to Eliminates the right of same sex couples to marry 37 California Attorney General Jerry Brown explained that the changes were required to more accurately reflect the measure in light of the California Supreme Court s intervening In re Marriage Cases decision 38 On July 22 2008 Proposition 8 supporters mounted a legal challenge to the revised ballot title and summary contending that Attorney General Brown inserted language so inflammatory that it will unduly prejudice voters against the measure 39 Supporters claimed that research showed that an attorney general had never used an active verb like eliminates in the title of a ballot measure in the past fifty years in which ballot measures have been used 39 Representatives of the attorney general produced twelve examples of ballot measures using the word eliminates and vouched for the neutrality and accuracy of the ballot language 40 41 On August 8 2008 the California Superior Court turned down the legal challenge affirming the new title and summary stating the title and summary is not false or misleading because it states that Proposition 8 would eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry in California The Superior Court based their decision on the previous Marriages Cases ruling in which the California Supreme Court held that same sex couples have a constitutional right to marry under the California Constitution 38 42 That same day proponents of Prop 8 filed an emergency appeal with the state appeals court The Court of Appeal denied their petition later that day and supporters did not seek a review by the Supreme Court of California 43 44 The deadline for court action on the wording of ballot summaries and arguments in the voter pamphlet was August 11 2008 45 While turning down the challenge to the title and summary the California Superior Court also found that the Yes on 8 campaign had overstated its ballot argument on the measure s impact on public schools and ordered a minor change in wording The original arguments included a claim that the Supreme Court s legalization of same sex marriage requires teachers to tell their students as young as kindergarten age that same sex marriage is the same as opposite sex marriage The court said the Yes on 8 argument was false because instruction on marriage is not required and parents can withdraw their children The court said the ballot argument could be preserved by rewording it to state that teachers may or could be required to tell children there is no difference between same sex and opposite sex marriage 42 CampaignCampaign funding and spending The pro and anti Prop 8 campaigns spent a combined 106 million on the campaign 46 This was not the most expensive California ballot proposition that year however the 2008 campaigns for and against Propositions 94 95 96 and 97 dealing with the expansion of Native American gambling surpassed Prop 8 with combined expenditures of 172 million 46 By election day volunteers on both sides spent thousands of hours getting their messages across to the state s 17 3 million registered voters 47 48 The campaigns for and against Proposition 8 raised 39 0 million 11 3 million or 29 1 from outside California and 44 1 million 13 2 million or 30 0 from outside California respectively 49 from over 64 000 people in all 50 states and more than 20 foreign countries setting a new record nationally for a social policy initiative and more than for every other race in the country in spending except the presidential contest 50 Contributions were much greater than those of previous same sex marriage initiatives Between 2004 and 2006 22 such measures were on ballots around the country and donations to all of them combined totaled 31 4 million according to OpenSecrets 51 A ProtectMarriage com spokeswoman estimated that 36 companies which had previously contributed to Equality California were targeted to receive a letter requesting similar donations to ProtectMarriage com 52 53 54 55 The California Fair Political Practices Commission fined the LDS Church in 2010 for failing to follow campaign disclosure policies during the last two weeks leading up to the election which amounted to 37 000 in non monetary contributions They were fined 5 538 56 Both proponents and opponents of Proposition 8 made significant use of online tactics for campaigning For example over 800 videos were posted on YouTube most consisting of original content and most taking a position against the Proposition A greater proportion of Yes on 8 videos were scripted and professionally produced Many No on 8 videos recorded demonstrations in the aftermath of the election 57 Proponents nbsp Official ProtectMarriage com Yes on 8 campaign sign 58 Proponents of the constitutional amendment argued that exclusively heterosexual marriage was an essential institution of society that leaving the constitution unchanged would result in public schools teaching our kids that gay marriage is okay and that gay people do not have the right to redefine marriage for everyone else 59 The ProtectMarriage com organization sponsored the initiative that placed Proposition 8 on the ballot 60 and continues to support the measure The measure also attracted the support of a number of political figures and religious organizations Political figures Republican presidential nominee and U S Senator John McCain released a statement of support for the proposed constitutional amendment 61 Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich released a video in support Both characterized the court ruling requiring recognition of same sex marriage as being against the will of the people 62 A political action committee run by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney who personally supported the proposition donated 10 000 to the National Organization for Marriage during their campaign for the proposition 63 Religious organizations The Roman Catholic Church 64 as well as a Roman Catholic lay fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus 65 firmly supported the measure The bishops of the California Catholic Conference released a statement supporting the proposition 66 a position met with mixed reactions among church members including clergy 67 68 George Hugh Niederauer as Archbishop of San Francisco campaigned in 2008 in favor of the Proposition and claimed to have been instrumental in forging alliances between Catholics and Mormons to support the measure 69 His successor Salvatore Cordileone was regarded as instrumental in devising the initiative Campaign finance records show he personally gave at least 6 000 to back the voter approved ban 70 and was instrumental in raising 1 5 million to put the proposition on the ballot 71 Subsequently as archbishop of San Francisco he has called publicly for an amendment to the US Constitution as the only remedy in law against judicial activism following the number of state same sex marriage bans struck down by federal judges He also attended and addressed the audience at the March for Marriage a rally opposing marriage for same sex couples in Washington D C in June 2014 72 In California s 2008 election the Knights of Columbus attracted media attention when they donated more than 1 4 million to Proposition 8 73 The Order was the largest financial supporter of the successful effort to maintain a legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman 74 nbsp Rally for Yes on Prop 8 in FresnoThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints 75 76 77 LDS Church also publicly supported the proposition The First Presidency of the church announced its support for Proposition 8 in a letter intended to be read in every congregation in California In this letter church members were encouraged to do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time 75 The church produced and broadcast to its congregations a program describing the support of the Proposition and describing the timeline it proposes for what it describes as grassroots efforts to support the Proposition 78 Local church leaders set organizational and monetary goals for their membership sometimes quite specific to fulfill this call 79 80 The response of church members to their leadership s appeals to donate money and volunteer time was very supportive 81 such that Latter day Saints provided a significant source for financial donations in support of the proposition both inside and outside the State of California 82 LDS members contributed over 20 million 83 about 45 of out of state contributions to ProtectMarriage com came from Utah over three times more than any other state 84 ProtectMarriage the official proponent of Proposition 8 estimates that about half the donations they received came from Mormon sources and that LDS church members made up somewhere between 80 and 90 of the volunteers for early door to door canvassing 85 Other religious organizations that supported Proposition 8 include the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 86 Eastern Orthodox Church 87 a group of Evangelical Christians led by Jim Garlow and Miles McPherson 88 American Family Association Focus on the Family 89 and the National Organization for Marriage 90 Rick Warren pastor of Saddleback Church also endorsed the measure 91 Others The Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego County California publicly voted on a resolution endorsing Proposition 8 The Governing Board voted 4 0 to endorse the amendment of the California State Constitution 92 The Asian Heritage Coalition held a rally in support of Proposition 8 in downtown San Diego on October 19 2008 93 During the November 2008 election campaign Porterville s City Council was the only City Council in California that passed a Resolution in favor of Proposition 8 94 Church of Scientology The San Diego branch of the Church of Scientology publicly supported the proposition by signing an online petition asking for Prop 8 This led to award winning director producer and writer Paul Haggis to call on Tommy Davis to denounce the signature 95 Davis responded to Haggis and told him that it was a single member of the San Diego branch which had signed the petition using the branch name and not a branch decision Davis then stated that the man had been handled 95 Haggis spent ten months trying to get Scientology to publicly denounce Prop 8 but Scientology remained silent and later said Davis explained to Haggis that the church avoids taking overt political stands 96 going further to explain that because they are a non profit with tax exempt status they cannot take a political stance or risk losing that status 97 Haggis resigned from Scientology after thirty five years of membership and wrote in his resignation letter that public sponsorship of Proposition 8 which succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California rights that were granted them by the Supreme Court of our state is a stain on the integrity of our organization and a stain on us personally Our public association with that hate filled legislation shames us 95 98 Whether You Like It or Not advertisement In the months leading up to Election Day Proposition 8 supporters released a commercial featuring San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom stating in a speech regarding same sex marriage This door s wide open now It s going to happen whether you like it or not 99 Some observers noted that polls shifted in favor of Proposition 8 following the release of the commercial this in turn led to much speculation about Newsom s unwitting role in the passage of the amendment 100 101 102 Opponents nbsp Official Vote NO on Prop 8 logoOpponents argued that the freedom to marry is fundamental to our society that the California constitution should guarantee the same freedom and rights to everyone and that the proposition mandates one set of rules for gay and lesbian couples and another set for everyone else They also argued that equality under the law is a fundamental constitutional guarantee see Equal Protection Clause 59 Equality for All was the lead organization opposed to Proposition 8 103 They also ran the NoOnProp8 com campaign 104 As with the measure s proponents opponents of the measure also included a number of political figures and religious organizations Some non partisan organizations and corporations as well as the editorial boards of many of the state s major newspapers also opposed the measure Political figures nbsp San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom speaks at an Anti Proposition 8 Rally on the Sproul Plaza steps at UC BerkeleyDemocratic presidential nominee and U S Senator Barack Obama stated that while he personally considered marriage to be between a man and woman 105 and supported civil unions that confer comparable rights rather than gay marriage 106 he opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution the U S Constitution or those of other states 107 Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Biden also opposed the proposition 108 Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that although he opposed and twice vetoed legislative bills that would recognize same sex marriage in California he respected and would uphold the court s ruling and oppose the initiative and other attempts to amend the state s constitution 109 110 The U S House Speaker California Representative 8th District Nancy Pelosi 111 along with other members of the California congressional delegation and both of California s U S senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer voiced their opposition to Proposition 8 112 Also voicing their opposition were the Lieutenant Governor State Controller John Chiang former governor and Attorney General Jerry Brown 42 of 80 members of the state assembly half of the state senators and the mayors of San Francisco Los Angeles and San Diego Gavin Newsom Antonio Villaraigosa and Jerry Sanders respectively 113 114 115 116 Religious organizations All six Episcopal diocesan bishops in California jointly issued a statement opposing Proposition 8 on September 10 2008 117 Southern California s largest collection of rabbis the Board of Rabbis of Southern California voted to oppose Proposition 8 118 Other Jewish groups who opposed Proposition 8 include Jewish Mosaic 119 the American Jewish Committee Progressive Jewish Alliance National Council of Jewish Women and the Anti Defamation League ADL 86 The ADL filed amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court of California Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8 120 Los Angeles Jews were more opposed to Prop 8 than any other religious group or ethnic group in the city Seventy eight percent of surveyed Jewish Angelenos voted against the measure while only 8 supported the measure the remainder declined to respond 121 The legislative ministry of the Unitarian Universalists opposed Proposition 8 and organized phone banks toward defeating the measure 122 They saw opposition to the proposition as a civil rights and social justice issue and their actions against it as a continuation of their previous works in civil rights In addition the California Council of Churches urged the immediate removal of Proposition 8 saying that it infringes on the freedom of religion for churches who wish to bless same sex unions 123 Others The League of Women Voters of California opposed Proposition 8 because no person or group should suffer legal economic or administrative discrimination 124 Additionally all but two of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People s local chapters in California and NAACP national chairman Julian Bond and President Benjamin Jealous opposed Proposition 8 125 Amnesty International also condemned Proposition 8 saying that states should never withhold rights based on minority status 126 A coalition of Silicon Valley executives urged a No vote on Proposition 8 127 Google officially opposed Proposition 8 as an issue of equality and its founders donated 140 000 to the No on 8 campaign 128 129 130 Apple Inc also opposed Proposition 8 as a fundamental civil rights issue and donated 100 000 to the No on 8 campaign 130 131 Biotech leaders warned of potential damage to the state s 73 billion industry citing Massachusetts as a top competitor for employees 132 Many members of the entertainment industry were opposed to Proposition 8 133 Actor Tom Hanks a strong supporter of same sex marriage was extremely outspoken about his opposition to the bill Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg each donated different amounts of money to the opposition campaign No on 8 134 In 2010 the documentary film 8 The Mormon Proposition premiered to sell out audiences at the Sundance Film Festival The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously for a resolution to oppose Proposition 8 135 The California Teachers Association donated one million dollars to fight Proposition 8 136 Chancellor Robert Birgeneau of UC Berkeley urged a vote against the measure claiming a likely threat to California s academic competitiveness if Proposition 8 is passed 137 Newspaper editorials All ten of the state s largest newspapers editorialized against Proposition 8 including the Los Angeles Times 138 and the San Francisco Chronicle 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 Other papers to have editorialized in opposition include The New York Times 148 La Opinion Los Angeles 149 and The Bakersfield Californian 150 Actions against supporters and opponents See also Protests against Proposition 8 supporters and November 15 2008 anti Proposition 8 protests After the election a number of protests were held against the referendum s passing These included candlelight vigils outside organizations such as LDS churches that promoted the proposition 151 152 Rallies against the amendment took place in California and across the country with participants numbering in thousands 153 154 155 156 157 158 Boycotts were also a feature of public response to the outcome of the election LGBT rights groups published lists of donors to the Yes on 8 campaign and organized boycotts of individuals or organizations who had promoted or donated to it 159 160 161 Targets of the boycotts included the Sundance Film Festival in Utah El Coyote Cafe California Musical Theatre and the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel 161 162 163 Some supporters of Proposition 8 reported receiving death threats some of which claimed to be stemming from Prop 8 164 165 Some LDS churches were vandalized with spray paint 166 167 Fresno area supporters of gay marriage were also harassed No On 8 signs at the Clovis Unitarian Universalist Church were torn up with Reverend Bryan Jessup alleging that his church experienced vandalism every night 164 Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney DDA Jay Boyarsky attributed a surge in anti gay hate crimes from 3 in 2007 to 14 in 2008 to controversy over Proposition 8 168 Pre decision opinion pollsVarious opinion polls were conducted to estimate the outcome of the proposition Those margins with differences less than their margins of error are marked as n s meaning not significant see Statistical significance Those margins considered statistically significant are indicated with the percentage points and the side favored in the poll as either pro for in favor of the proposition s passage e g 1 pro or con for against its passage e g 1 con According to the director of the Field Poll the discrepancy between the pre election polls and ballot results is because regular church goers were more prone than other voters to be influenced by last minute appeals to conform to orthodox church positions when voting on a progressive social issue like same sex marriage 169 Date of opinion poll Conducted by Sample size likely voters In favor Against Undecided Margin Margin of ErrorOctober 29 31 2008 170 SurveyUSA 637 47 50 3 n s 4 October 18 28 2008 171 The Field Poll 966 44 49 7 5 con 3 3 October 12 19 2008 172 Public Policy Institute of California 1 186 44 52 4 8 con 3 October 15 16 2008 173 SurveyUSA 615 48 45 7 n s 4 October 4 5 2008 174 175 SurveyUSA 670 47 42 10 5 pro 3 9 September 23 24 2008 176 177 SurveyUSA 661 44 49 8 5 con 3 9 September 9 16 2008 178 Public Policy Institute of California 1 157 41 55 4 14 con 3 September 5 14 2008 179 The Field Poll 830 38 55 7 17 con 3 5 August 12 19 2008 180 181 Public Policy Institute of California 1 047 40 54 6 14 con 3 July 8 14 2008 18 182 The Field Poll 672 42 51 7 9 con 3 9 May 17 26 2008 183 The Field Poll 1 052 42 51 7 9 con 3 2 May 22 2008 184 Los Angeles Times KTLA 705 54 35 11 19 pro 4 Results nbsp County Results For 70 80 60 70 50 60 Against 70 80 60 70 50 60 Proposition 8 1 Choice Votes nbsp Yes 7 001 084 52 24No 6 401 482 47 76Valid votes 13 402 566 97 52Invalid or blank votes 340 611 2 48Total votes 13 743 177 100 00Proposition 8 results excluding invalid votes Yes7 001 084 52 2 No6 401 482 47 8 50 Amending the California Constitution by voter initiative requires a simple majority to be enacted 185 Edison Mitofsky conducted an exit poll on behalf of the National Election Pool which is the only source of data on voter demographics in California in the 2008 election 186 187 The statistical trends from the exit poll of 2 240 voters suggested that an array of voters came out both in opposition to and in support of Proposition 8 with no single demographic group making up most of either the Yes or No vote The National Election Pool poll showed that support for Proposition 8 was strong amongst African American voters interviewed in the exit poll with 70 in favor more than any other racial group 188 Their support was considered crucial to the proposition s passing since African Americans made up an unusually larger percentage of voters that year due to the presence of Barack Obama on the ballot 189 Polls by both the Associated Press and CNN mirrored this data reporting support among black voters to be at 70 190 and 75 191 respectively A later study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force NGLTF examining the black vote only from five counties within the state suggested that black support was closer to 58 192 193 Hispanic and Latino voters also voted for Proposition 8 194 Those who described themselves as religious were the strongest supporters of Prop 8 195 According to the NGLTF study self identified Catholics and Protestants supported Prop 8 by measures of 55 and 66 respectively 196 while Jews overwhelmingly opposed it with support at only 17 197 198 Young voters were more likely to have voted against the ballot measure than older voters while Republicans were more likely to have supported the measure than were Democrats 199 County breakdown Breakdown of voting by county 1 County Yes Votes No VotesKern 75 3 175 167 24 7 57 496Tulare 75 1 78 578 24 9 26 113Modoc 74 2 3 279 25 8 1 142Kings 73 7 25 821 26 3 9 244Madera 73 5 30 906 26 5 11 193Glenn 73 3 7 235 26 7 2 644Tehama 72 8 17 777 27 2 6 675Colusa 71 6 4 556 28 4 1 815Lassen 71 3 8 021 28 7 3 241Merced 70 8 44 800 29 2 18 520Sutter 70 4 23 032 29 6 9 707Shasta 69 7 55 698 30 3 24 224Imperial 69 7 27 048 30 3 11 783Fresno 68 7 185 993 31 3 83 122Stanislaus 67 9 108 988 32 1 51 598Yuba 67 6 14 323 32 4 6 868San Bernardino 66 8 404 762 33 2 202 227San Joaquin 65 5 135 728 34 5 71 747Riverside 64 7 417 133 35 3 228 449Sierra 64 2 1 273 35 8 711Amador 64 0 11 945 36 0 6 725Calaveras 63 9 14 624 36 1 8 588Tuolumne 62 6 16 964 37 4 10 163Mariposa 62 1 5 961 37 9 3 640Inyo 60 6 5 116 39 4 3 334Del Norte 60 1 5 658 39 9 3 770Siskiyou 60 0 12 668 40 0 8 475Plumas 60 0 6 576 40 0 4 401Placer 59 8 102 977 40 2 69 444El Dorado 58 3 53 837 41 7 38 534Orange 57 7 659 037 42 3 484 015Trinity 56 2 3 563 43 8 2 785Butte 56 1 54 822 43 9 43 045Solano 55 9 89 292 44 1 70 680San Benito 54 8 10 657 45 2 8 794Sacramento 53 9 289 378 46 1 248 444San Diego 53 8 655 625 46 2 565 054Ventura 52 9 178 719 47 1 159 284Lake 52 0 13 036 48 0 12 080San Luis Obispo 51 1 67 304 48 9 64 555Los Angeles 50 1 1 624 672 49 9 1 622 287Nevada 50 1 27 617 49 9 27 614Monterey 48 4 62 251 51 6 66 191Santa Barbara 46 4 80 117 53 6 92 305Contra Costa 44 6 198 713 55 4 246 753Napa 44 4 26 227 55 6 32 742Mono 44 2 2 425 55 8 3 050Santa Clara 44 2 291 347 55 8 367 053Alpine 43 6 293 56 4 379Yolo 41 3 32 816 56 4 46 537Humboldt 39 9 25 296 60 1 37 963San Mateo 38 2 114 695 61 8 185 127Alameda 38 0 232 923 62 0 378 692Mendocino 36 8 14 649 63 2 25 072Sonoma 33 5 76 143 66 5 150 763Santa Cruz 28 7 36 163 71 3 89 793Marin 24 9 34 324 75 1 103 341San Francisco 24 8 92 536 75 2 280 491Post election eventsSee also Protests against Proposition 8 supporters Immediate response nbsp A post Prop 8 demonstration at the State CapitolIn California a constitutional amendment passed by the electorate takes effect the day after the election 185 On the evening of November 4 the Yes on 8 campaign issued a statement by Ron Prentice the chairman of ProtectMarriage com saying The people of California stood up for traditional marriage and reclaimed this great institution 200 The organizers of the No on Prop 8 campaign issued a statement on November 6 saying Tuesday s vote was deeply disappointing to all who believe in equal treatment under the law 201 The counties of Los Angeles San Francisco Yolo Kern Santa Barbara San Luis Obispo Sonoma San Diego San Bernardino Sacramento and Tuolumne stopped issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples the day after the election 202 203 204 205 Fines Following an audit by the California Franchise Tax Board the proponents of Proposition 8 are facing a fine of 49 000 for violating California campaign finance disclosure laws by failing to report 1 169 292 in contributions under the timelines required by state law 206 Protests Following the passage of Proposition 8 mass protests took place across the state These included protests outside the Los Angeles California Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Westwood Los Angeles 207 a march through Hollywood that blocked traffic and elicited police intervention 208 and a candlelight vigil in front of the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center along with a protest in front of the California State Capitol 209 210 In San Francisco thousands gathered in front of the City Hall to protest the proposition and to perform a candlelit vigil Speakers who voiced their opinion in opposition of Proposition 8 included state senator Mark Leno and Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom 211 Outside California a protest at the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Salt Lake City Utah 212 was addressed by local gay rights supporters including former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and three gay members of the Utah Legislature Senator Scott McCoy and Representatives Christine Johnson and Jackie Biskupski 213 On November 12 2008 more than 10 000 protesters gathered outside the Manhattan New York Temple to protest the support of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints for Proposition 8 214 On November 15 2008 tens of thousands of people in cities around the United States participated in rallies to protest the passage of Proposition 8 and to promote the expansion of civil marriage to same sex couples throughout the nation 215 Boycotts The passage of Proposition 8 led to opponents responding by publicly shaming its supporters as bigots and boycotting supporters businesses and employers On November 7 2008 a blogger revealed that Scott Eckern then Artistic Director of California Musical Theatre had made a personal donation of 1 000 to the Yes on 8 campaign 216 All campaign contributions of 1 000 or more required a name home and occupation be listed On November 10 gay artists condemned Eckern and called for a boycott of California Musical Theatre 217 On November 11 Eckern issued an apology on the online site Playbill stating that a similar donation had been made to a human rights organization that includes gay rights as one of its causes 218 On November 12 Eckern resigned from California Musical Theatre Executive producer of the CMT Richard Lewis stated that Eckern was not forced to resign but did so of his own accord 219 Richard Raddon Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival also resigned due to boycotts by the gay community 220 Protests in California were marred by racial incidents Due to their support of Proposition 8 reported as high as 70 percent some African Americans attending events were allegedly subjected to racial epithets and felt threatened California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass stated she was disturbed by the treatment of African Americans in the aftermath of the passage of the proposition In reaction to the racial incidents Evan Wolfson said In any fight there will be people who say things they shouldn t say but that shouldn t divert attention from what the vast majority are saying against this that it s a terrible injustice 221 222 Media To protest the passage of Proposition 8 musical theatre composer Marc Shaiman wrote a satiric mini musical called Prop 8 The Musical 223 The three minute video was distributed on the internet at FunnyOrDie com The cast includes Jack Black who plays Jesus Nicole Parker Neil Patrick Harris John C Reilly Allison Janney Andy Richter Maya Rudolph Margaret Cho Rashida Jones Kathy Najimy Sarah Chalke Jennifer Lewis John Hill and other celebrities It was directed by Adam Shankman The video satirizes Christian churches that selectively pick and choose biblical doctrines to follow 224 It received 1 2 million internet hits in its first day 225 226 won the 2009 Webby Award category Comedy Individual Short or Episode 227 and won a GLAAD media award 228 In 2010 8 The Mormon Proposition a documentary alleging the involvement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in the passage of Proposition 8 Written by Reed Cowan and narrated by Dustin Lance Black the film divided critics over a perceived heavy handed approach to the church s involvement it won the 2011 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary In 2011 8 a play re enacting the proceedings of Perry v Brown in a condensed manner of documentary theatre was premiered on Broadway Controversies about campaign financing and donationsOn November 13 2008 Fred Karger of the group Californians Against Hate filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that campaign finance reports filed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints under reported its actual Proposition 8 campaign expenses as 2 078 97 229 230 Karger charged that the Church s failure to report non monetary contributions placed it in violation of California s Political Reform Act Church spokesman Scott Trotter denied the charges saying the church had fully complied with the reporting requirements and a further report will be filed on or before the due date Jan 30 2009 231 In a report filed with the California Secretary of State s office January 30 2009 the LDS Church reported its non monetary expenditures as 189 903 58 232 On January 31 the San Francisco Chronicle stated While the deadline for the report which covers the period from July 1 to Dec 31 is February 2 many campaign contributions by major donors and independent committees must be reported within days after they re made The article further stated that the executive director of the FPPC stated that the LDS church was still under investigation and In general however cases like these hinge over what had to be reported and when it had to be reported A late report covering disputed filings wouldn t remove the obligation to file on time but would be considered by investigators 233 The Boston Herald reported on February 2 2009 234 While many church members had donated directly to the Yes on 8 campaign some estimates of Mormon giving range as high as 20 million the church itself had previously reported little direct campaign activity But in the filing made Friday the Mormon church reported thousands in travel expenses such as airline tickets hotel rooms and car rentals for the campaign The church also reported 96 849 31 worth of compensated staff time hours that church employees spent working to pass the same sex marriage ban In a statement issued February 2 2009 the LDS Church responded to erroneous news reports saying its subsequent disclosure was in no way prompted by an investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission that We believe we have complied with California law and that the report s filing date met the January 31 2009 deadline 235 The Church like other organizations on both sides of the ballot issue was required to publicly file these donations by the 31 January deadline The Church has been filing required contribution reports throughout the campaign Those earlier donations initially stated were filed for specific time periods prior to this last reporting period as required by law Other groups are also filing their final contribution reports to meet the same deadline On January 7 2009 supporters of Proposition 8 filed a federal lawsuit to block public disclosure of their donations Alleging threats against their lives as well as other forms of harassment the lawsuit also requested a preliminary injunction that ordered the California Secretary of State to remove information about donations posted on its website Opponents of Proposition 8 called it hypocritical that its supporters would refer to their support of the measure as the will of the people while seeking to overturn voter approved campaign disclosure laws 236 U S District Judge Morrison England Jr denied that request on January 29 he said that the public had the right to know about donors of political causes that he did not agree that the plaintiffs had a probability of success in court and that they had not proven they would suffer irreparable injury if he did not grant the preliminary injunction 237 LitigationCalifornia Supreme Court cases nbsp Protesters at the Day of Decision rally marched up Market Street in downtown San Francisco following the California Supreme Court ruling nbsp Pro and Anti Proposition 8 protesters rally in front of the San Francisco City Hall on the day of the Supreme Court hearings Main article Strauss v Horton After the passage of Proposition 8 a number of lawsuits were filed by against the state and state officials with the intent of overturning the measure and arguing that Proposition 8 should not have retroactive effect on existing same sex marriages On November 13 2008 the California Supreme Court asked California Attorney General Jerry Brown for an opinion on whether the Court should accept these cases for review and whether the measure should be suspended while they decide the case On November 19 the Court accepted three lawsuits challenging Proposition 8 but denied the requests to stay its enforcement 238 The Court asked for final briefs by January 5 2009 Oral arguments were held on March 5 2009 On Tuesday May 26 the court ruled that The Amendment to the State Constitution referred to as Proposition 8 is valid and enforceable from the moment it was passed citation needed The court also held that Proposition 8 must be understood as creating a limited exception to the state equal protection clause 239 Justice Moreno in his lone dissenting opinion argued that such a change to the Constitution should only be implemented by a constitutional revision to modify the equal protection clause to protect some rather than all similarly situated persons and not by a simple majority vote The Court did rule that their decision cannot be applied to retroactively annul marriages that were transacted while the practice was legal in the state of California 240 Proposition 8 has no retroactive effect The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously on May 26 2009 that the approximately 18 000 same sex marriages that had occurred prior to Proposition 8 s passage would still be valid and must continue to be recognized in the state since the amendment does not state explicitly that it would nullify the same sex marriages performed before it took effect 240 Later legislation clarified that same sex couples who married out of state within the window of legality would also retain their legal marriage rights The bill was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on October 11 2009 241 Federal challenges Smelt v United States Immediately following the passage of Proposition 8 Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer filed suit in the Southern Division of the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Orange County In the case Smelt v United States the couple argued that Proposition 8 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act violated the Equal Protection Clause of the American constitution 242 The United States Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the case because the plaintiffs are married and their challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act DOMA poses a different set of questions 243 On July 15 2009 District Judge Carter dismissed the part of Smelt that challenged Proposition 8 finding that the fact that the plaintiffs were already legally married in California meant they had no standing to challenge Proposition 8 The challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act however remained intact 244 The remainder of the case was heard on August 3 2009 in an Orange County district court 245 The lawsuit was thrown out because the two men had filed suit against the federal government in a state court a technicality which meant the suit needed to be re filed 246 Perry v Schwarzenegger Main article Perry v Schwarzenegger On the day of Strauss v Horton s decision the American Foundation for Equal Rights AFER filed suit in U S District Court for the Northern District of California to challenge the validity of Proposition 8 Lambda Legal the ACLU and the National Center for Lesbian Rights have since announced their support for the lawsuit 247 San Francisco filed a motion to and was granted intervenor status in the case saying that their work in In re Marriage Cases and Strauss v Horton provided them with extensive evidence and proposed findings on strict scrutiny factors and factual rebuttals to long claimed justifications for marriage discrimination 248 California Attorney General and former and later again Governor Jerry Brown backed the lawsuit saying that Proposition 8 violates the U S Constitution and should be struck down 249 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took a more neutral path 250 saying that he supported the lawsuit because the Proposition 8 conflict asks important constitutional questions that require and warrant judicial determination Because this means that the Californian government will not defend the law in court 251 the proponents of Proposition 8 s campaign were granted the right to intervene as defendants 252 The case was first heard on July 2 2009 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco Judge Vaughn R Walker presiding 253 In an act unprecedented in California history both the Governor and Attorney General refused to defend a constitutional amendment 254 In August Judge Walker heard further requests for intervenor status and ordered a trial set for January 2010 On August 4 2010 U S District Chief Judge Vaughn R Walker ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional but at the same time temporarily provided for a suspension of the ruling while he considered whether to grant an indefinite suspension pending appeal 255 Walker lifted the stay on August 12 2010 thus allowing same sex marriages to be performed as of August 18 2010 256 On August 16 2010 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit imposed a stay of all new same sex marriages in the State of California It also scheduled an accelerated time table for hearing an appeal of Judge Walker s ruling 257 Before the appeal trial begins there will be a December 6 2010 needs update hearing on who has legal standing to appeal the District Court s decision and whether the proposition violates equal protection rights 258 Ballot repeal effortOn April 30 2009 the members of Yes on Equality submitted a ballot initiative dubbed California Marriage Equality Act to the Attorney General s office requesting a title and summary The text of the ballot would repeal Article I Section 7 5 of the Californian Constitution as well as clarifying that no school curriculum will be changed and no clergy will be forced to perform any service or duty incongruent with their faith Yes on Equality had until August 17 2009 to gather 694 354 signatures in order to qualify for the June 2010 ballot 259 260 A petition for initiative for the November 2010 ballot also failed to obtain enough signatures 261 262 Several LGBT groups of color including API Equality LA HONOR PAC and the Jordan Rustin Coalition published a statement Prepare to Prevail 263 in which they argue that the ballot repeal effort should be delayed until 2012 As of February 2012 the repeal effort was canceled in light of victorious court cases 264 On February 14 2023 following comments by Clarence Thomas in the U S Supreme Court decision Dobbs v Jackson Women s Health Organization that call for a review of Obergefell v Hodges Evan Low introduced ACA 5 265 a legislatively referred constitutional amendment repealing the ban on same sex marriage for the 2024 California elections activists agreed that 2024 would be the earliest date for a ballot measure to prevent competition of attention with 2022 California Proposition 1 266 267 In July 2023 the California State Senate passed ACA 5 in a unanimous vote after a first unanimous vote took place in the California State Assembly in June 2023 therefore placing the proposal to repeal Prop 8 on the ballot in 2024 268 Legal challengesFollowing the passing of Proposition 8 in 2008 and the subsequent mass protests several lawsuits were filed in both the State Supreme Court and in the Federal District Court State court Strauss v Horton Main article Strauss v Horton In considering the cases within the state courts on November 13 2008 the California Supreme Court asked California Attorney General Jerry Brown for an opinion on whether the Court should accept these cases for review and whether the measure should be suspended while they decide the case On November 19 the Court accepted three lawsuits challenging Proposition 8 which consolidated into Strauss v Horton 269 The Court rendered its decision on May 26 2009 The majority decision was that Proposition 8 carved out a limited or narrow exception to the state equal protection clause Justice Moreno dissented that exceptions to the equal protection clause could not be made by any majority since its whole purpose was to protect minorities against the will of a majority Until overturned by Hollingsworth v Perry below the ruling established that Proposition 8 was valid as voted but that marriages performed before it went into effect would remain valid Federal court Main article Hollingsworth v Perry Perry v Schwarzenegger After the California Supreme Court upheld the voter initiative a suit Perry v Schwarzenegger later Hollingsworth v Perry was filed in a Federal District Court in San Francisco On August 4 2010 U S District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8 stating it is unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause because no compelling state interest justifies denying same sex couples the fundamental right to marry 270 The court also determined that Proposition 8 violated the Equal Protection Clause because there is no rational basis for limiting the designation of marriage to opposite sex couples 271 The court also stayed the ruling the voter initiative was to remain in effect pending appeal 20 On August 12 Walker announced his decision to lift the stay which would have allowed same sex marriages to be performed as of August 18 2010 update 272 273 However on August 16 2010 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit indefinitely extended the District Court s stay stopping new same sex marriages in the state of California pending appeal It also scheduled an accelerated time table for hearing an appeal of Walker s ruling 274 Perry v Brown on appeal As the State of California chose not to appeal the ruling an appeal was sought by two parties the initiative proponents and Imperial County via its deputy clerk The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the question of standing first On January 4 2011 the Ninth Circuit ruled that Imperial County did not have standing to intervene in the lawsuit by now called Perry v Brown the formal reason being the county s appeal had been untimely but also that the appellant was the county s deputy clerk and precedent existed in other cases that a deputy clerk could not represent a county To address the question whether the initiative proponents had particularized standing that is standing either via personal interest or standing to represent the State s interest the Ninth Circuit certified a question to the California Supreme Court on January 4 2011 asking that court to rule whether under the California Constitution or otherwise under California law non governmental proponents of an initiative have standing to appeal when the State is no longer willing to defend it 275 On February 16 2011 the California Supreme Court unanimously agreed to address the Ninth Circuit s request 276 The court set an expedited schedule for the hearing 277 and heard oral arguments on September 6 2011 278 On November 17 2011 the California Supreme Court issued an advisory opinion that the proponents of Proposition 8 did have standing and could defend it 279 280 Ninth Circuit ruling nbsp Seal of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitOn February 7 2012 a three judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2 1 majority opinion affirming the judgment in Perry v Schwarzenegger which declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional saying it violated the Equal Protection Clause The opinion written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt and joined by Judge Michael Hawkins states that Proposition 8 did nothing more than lessen the status and dignity of gays and lesbians and classify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite sex couples 281 The court found that the people of California by using their initiative power to target a minority group and withdraw the right to marry they once possessed under the California State Constitution violated the federal Constitution 282 The court concluded that the trial court had correctly found Proposition 8 to have no purpose other than to impose the majority s private disapproval of gays lesbians and their relationships through the public law and to take away from them the designation of marriage and its recognized societal status 283 The findings of fact and expert witness testimony in District Court played an important role in this appellate decision emphasizing that it is unreasonable to believe Proposition 8 was enacted to promote childrearing by biological parents encourage procreation be cautious in social change protect religious liberty or control children s education 284 The court declared that it is implausible to think that denying two men or two women the right to call themselves married could somehow bolster the stability of families headed by one man and one woman 285 286 The dissenting judge Judge N Randy Smith noted in his dissent that states do legitimately prohibit sexual relationships condemned by society such as incest bigamy and bestiality and impose age limits for marriage without violating constitutional rights 287 He stated that gays and lesbians are not a suspect or quasi suspect class and are thus not entitled to the courts increased scrutiny of laws that affect them 287 He wrote The family structure of two committed biological parents one man and one woman is the optimal partnership for raising children He also said that governments have a legitimate interest in a responsible procreation theory justifying the inducement of marital recognition only for opposite sex couples because only they can have children 287 He urged judicial restraint that the justices should refrain from striking down Proposition 8 288 En banc review denied On February 21 2012 proponents requested to have to the case reviewed en banc by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals 289 If granted en banc review could have taken a year or more which would have delayed possible U S Supreme Court review 289 Pending the appeal a stay was continued barring any marriages from taking place 290 On June 5 2012 the full Ninth Circuit refused to rehear the case the stay would remain in place pending final action by the Supreme Court 291 The Ninth Court s ruling was subsequently vacated withdrawn although it affirmed the district court ruling since the Supreme Court later determined that the proponents of Proposition 8 had not had standing to appeal the district court s ruling Hollingsworth v Perry U S Supreme Court The proposition s proponents filed a petition for certiorari with the U S Supreme Court on July 30 2012 requesting that the Supreme Court review the case 292 Briefs in opposition both from the individual respondents and from the City and County of San Francisco were filed August 24 and the petitioners replied on September 4 293 On December 7 2012 the Supreme Court granted the proponents petition for certiorari 294 and asked to be briefed for arguments concerning the petitioners Article III standing 295 amid considerable anticipation of a finding of a lack of justiciability in order to avoid a holding on the merits 296 Oral arguments were heard on March 26 2013 24 Parties who lodged amicus briefs with the court included Judge Georg Ress and the Marriage Law Foundation William N Eskridge Jr et al the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence the Public Advocate of the United States et al the National Association of Evangelicals et al the American Civil Rights Union Judicial Watch Inc et al the Eagle Forum Education amp Legal Defense Fund Inc the Foundation for Moral Law and the state of Indiana et al 293 The Supreme Court issued a 5 4 decision on June 26 2013 297 Chief Justice Roberts wrote for the majority and was joined by Justices Scalia Ginsburg Breyer and Kagan 297 Justices Kennedy Thomas Alito and Sotomayor were in the minority 298 The Court found the proponents did not have standing to appeal in federal court To have standing they must have suffered an injury in fact thus giving them a sufficiently concrete interest in the outcome of the issue in dispute 11 Because no injury had been shown the appeal to the Ninth Circuit should have been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction This only applied to the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court cases The Court returned the case to the Ninth Circuit with instructions to dismiss the appeal This left the district court s ruling overturning Proposition 8 as the final ruling in the case Because the appeal was decided on the question of standing the Supreme Court did not examine nor rule on whether in their view Proposition 8 had violated the U S Constitution Justice Kennedy writing for the minority said the views of the California Supreme Court on the proponents standing should have been respected 11 because the basic premise of the initiative process and the essence of democracy is that the right to make law rests in the people and flows to the government not the other way around 7 13 Aftermath nbsp Plaintiffs Perry and Stier at the June 30 2013 Pride Parade in San Francisco after their marriageOn June 28 2013 the Ninth Circuit lifted its stay of the district court s ruling enabling same sex marriages to resume 12 minutes afterward plaintiffs Perry and Stier became the first couple in California to legally wed under state law since the enactment of Proposition 8 in 2008 doing so at San Francisco City Hall at 4 45 PDT with California s Attorney General Kamala Harris officiating at the ceremony 299 There were two legal challenges made to the implementation of the ruling both subsequently denied Federal court legal challenge to removal of stay On June 29 2013 the proponents of Proposition 8 filed an emergency motion with the U S Supreme Court to vacate the Ninth Circuit s lifting of its stay claiming it had been premature 300 The next day June 30 2013 U S Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy responsible for overseeing the Ninth Circuit denied the motion without comment 301 State court legal challenges to statewide implementation of ruling Even before the Ninth Circuit lifted its stay Proposition 8 proponents had expressed the intent to fight on by asserting that the ruling only applies to the persons or counties involved and would be unlawful for other couples or counties to comply with it 302 Two petitions to this effect were filed with the California Supreme Court by proponents Hollingsworth v O Connell and Brown July 12 2013 and against county policy by a San Diego County Clerk Dronenburg July 19 2013 dropped August 2 as duplicative The proponents petition challenged the state and county clerk responses to the ruling in Perry asserting that in their view only two counties were affected by the ruling and other counties had no legal capacity to discretionally do likewise that the plaintiffs not representing a class had their relief while others who were not plaintiffs had no change to their position within the law and that county clerks were not in fact covered by the ruling and were therefore bound to comply with the law as it stood This position was rejected by California s governor who on legal advice 303 ordered the change to license issuance according to the ruling 304 California s Attorney General Kamala Harris noted that state officials are obligated to govern marriage equally in all counties and that United States District Court for the Northern District of California Chief Judge Vaughn Walker s ruling specifically covers those officials 302 San Francisco s city attorney stated that it was the most basic concepts of American law that a state court will not overrule the federal judiciary 303 Twenty four County Clerks stated through their lawyer that their role was ultimately state supervised and it would be unfeasible to have a patchwork of different marriage criteria varying between the counties of a single state 305 On July 15 the California Supreme Court unanimously declined the request to order an immediate halt to same sex marriages in the state pending a decision on the petition The court requested arguments from the parties on the points raised in their petition 306 On August 14 2013 the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected the challenge by Proposition 8 proponents 307 See also nbsp LGBT portal nbsp Conservatism portal nbsp California portalProposition 22 Briggs Initiative Houston Proposition 1 2015 a veto referendum which led to the repealing of an ordinance protecting LGBTQ rights LGBT rights in California List of former U S state constitutional amendments banning same sex unions by type Obergefell v Hodges a 2015 U S Supreme Court case holding that the right to marry is guaranteed to same sex couples San Francisco 2004 same sex weddings a prior controversy that sparked In re Marriage Cases and led to Proposition 8 SaveCalifornia com United States v Windsor a 2013 U S Supreme Court case decided along with Hollingsworth v Perry that struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act thereby granting federal benefits to same sex couple who are married under state law 8 or 8 the Play an American play that portrays the closing arguments of Perry v Schwarzenegger the federal trial that led to the overturn of Proposition 8References a b c Statement of Vote 2008 General Election PDF California Secretary of State December 13 2008 Archived from the original PDF on May 6 2013 Retrieved June 26 2013 Pro Family Group Says Effort to Ban Calif Gay Marriage Looks Strong Christianpost com 2008 04 05 Retrieved 2013 11 01 a b Scan of Initiative filing Archived 2015 04 25 at the Wayback Machine from California Attorney General s web site a b Propositions that are on the November 4 2008 General Election Ballot Archived June 17 2009 at the Wayback Machine California Secretary of State a b Text of Proposition 8 Archived 2013 04 18 at the Wayback Machine Official Voter Information Guide draft copy Retrieved July 28 2008 Judge strikes down Prop 8 allows gay marriage in California Los Angeles Times August 4 2010 Retrieved February 22 2012 a b Hollingsworth et al v Perry et al Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit No 12 144 Argued March 26 2013 Decided June 26 2013 PDF Retrieved 2013 12 03 No 10 16606 PDF US Courts February 7 2012 Retrieved April 17 2021 Prop 8 ruling explained Why gay marriage will resume in California NBC June 26 2013 Nbcpolitics nbcnews com 2013 06 26 Retrieved 2013 12 03 Savage David G 2013 06 26 Prop 8 Supreme Court clears way for gay marriage in California Los Angeles Times June 26 2013 Politics Now Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2013 12 03 a b c Schwartz John 26 June 2013 Guide to the Supreme Court Decision on Proposition 8 via NYTimes com a b Dolan Maura 2013 06 28 Prop 8 Gay marriages can resume in California court rules Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2013 12 03 San Jose recognizes gay marriage Chicago Tribune March 10 2004 Retrieved February 21 2012 California Constitution Article XVIII Archived from the original on 2008 12 10 Wisckol Martin February 4 2009 Gays would lose few legal rights with marriage ban Orange County Register Archived from the original on February 12 2009 Retrieved February 12 2009 John Schwartz May 26 2009 California High Court Upholds Gay Marriage Ban The New York Times Retrieved December 17 2009 Same Sex Married Couples California Franchise Tax Board 2009 05 26 Archived from the original on October 26 2008 Retrieved December 17 2009 a b Fowler Geoffrey A Bravin Jess February 8 2012 Court Rejects State Ban On Gay Marriage The Wall Street Journal pp A1 A4 Ruling by United States District Court PDF San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original PDF on 2012 03 07 a b Egelko Bob Bulwa Demian August 4 2010 Judge strikes down ban on same sex marriage San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved August 4 2010 Keys Matthew August 4 2010 Federal Judge Same Sex Marriage Ban Under Proposition 8 Violates Constitution FOX40 com Archived from the original on 2012 08 07 Prop 8 Gay marriage ban unconstitutional court rules Los Angeles Times February 7 2012 Retrieved February 7 2011 Bulwa Demian Fagan Kevin Gordon Rachel August 22 2010 Prop 8 Appeals court puts ruling on hold San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on 2012 03 04 a b Hollingsworth v Perry Proceedings and Orders Supreme Court of the United States Retrieved January 7 2013 Sayre Ben Bode Leticia Shah Dhavan Wilcox Dave and Shah Chirag 2010 Agenda Setting in a Digital Age Tracking Attention to California Proposition 8 in Social Media Online News and Conventional News Policy amp Internet Vol 2 Iss 2 Article 2 Page 11 doi 10 2202 1944 2866 1040 Text of Proposed Laws PDF Official Voter Information Guide State of California p 128 Retrieved August 28 2012 SECTION 1 Title This measure shall be known and may be cited as the California Marriage Protection Act Werdegar Kathryn Mickle May 26 2009 California Supreme Court Concurring Decision by Werdeger PDF p 35 Retrieved February 11 2012 Folmar Kate June 2 2008 Secretary of State Debra Bowen Certifies Eighth Measure for November 4 2008 General Election PDF California Secretary of State Archived from the original PDF on September 10 2008 Retrieved August 7 2008 Scan of Initiative Archived 2015 04 25 at the Wayback Machine from California Attorney General website Dolan Maura July 17 2008 Bid to ban gay marriage will stay on ballot California Supreme Court rules Los Angeles Times Retrieved August 7 2008 Costa v Superior Court 2006 37 Cal 4th 986 1005 1006 Official Prop 8 Ruling Document SFist May 26 2009 Archived from the original on May 29 2009 Retrieved May 26 2009 Initiative Measure Title and Summary 07 0068 PDF California Attorney General November 29 2007 Archived from the original PDF on June 24 2008 Retrieved June 23 2008 Ballot Label Proposition 8 California Secretary of State July 3 2008 Archived from the original PDF on April 30 2009 Garrison Jessica July 29 2008 Opponents of gay marriage say they will sue over changed wording in Proposition 8 Los Angeles Times California Elections Code The State of California Archived from the original on July 30 2009 Retrieved December 6 2008 Phillip Matier Andrew Ross October 26 2008 Jerry Brown s wording may trip up Prop 8 San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved June 27 2013 a b Jansson v Bowen et al Petition for Writ of Mandate Order After Hearing Superior Court of California County of Sacramento August 7 2008 a b Lawsuit filed to challenge California ballot s inflammatory rewording of marriage amendment CNA Catholic News Agency August 1 2008 Archived from the original on February 14 2009 Retrieved March 28 2009 Garrison Jessica July 28 2008 Gay marriage foes challenge ballot wording AZ Central com Retrieved August 7 2008 Request for judicial notice in support of opposition to petition for writ of mandate PDF Attorney General of the State of California 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on Prop 8 Bay Area Reporter Retrieved September 17 2008 Gavin Newsom Speaks on Prop 8 YouTube Retrieved September 17 2008 San Diego Mayor Stands Up For Marriage Equality YouTube Retrieved October 2 2008 Who Opposes Prop 8 No On 8 Equality for All Archived from the original on January 24 2016 Retrieved August 1 2013 Helfand Duke September 11 2008 California s top Episcopal bishops oppose gay marriage ban Los Angeles Times Southern California rabbi board opposes gay marriage ban Los Angeles Times September 27 2008 Retrieved March 12 2021 Drinkwater Gregg October 20 2008 Speaking out for love justice and the freedom to marry Jewish Mosaic Archived from the original on February 14 2009 Retrieved October 25 2008 BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE ANTI DEFAMATION LEAGUE ET AL IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS Archived from the original on 2013 03 07 Retrieved 2013 11 01 Most L A Jews voted against same sex ban Jewish Telegraphic Agency November 9 2008 Archived from the original on July 11 2012 Deakin Michelle 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ballot question October 24 2008 Archived from the original on March 10 2012 Retrieved October 24 2008 Quinn Michelle October 24 2008 Apple donates 100 000 to fight same sex marriage ban Los Angeles Times Somers Terri October 29 2008 Proposition 8 would blunt biotech edge execs say San Diego Union Tribune Archived from the original on November 1 2008 Retrieved October 29 2008 Lang Derrik October 22 2008 Hollywood comes out in support of gay marriage Archived from the original on October 27 2008 Retrieved October 27 2008 Spielberg Makes Like Pitt Supports Same Sex Marriage E Online Uk eonline com September 23 2008 Retrieved October 31 2011 LA Unified Opposes Prop 8 LA Weekly September 10 2008 Archived from the original on September 24 2008 Retrieved October 13 2008 Larrubia Evelyn October 17 2008 Teachers Union Donates 1 Million to Oppose Proposition 8 Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 17 2008 Chancellor Birgeneau informs campus of likely impacts of Proposition 8 October 22 2008 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from the original on 12 April 2017 Retrieved 11 April 2017 Patrick J Egan Kenneth Sherrill January 2010 California s Proposition 8 and America s Racial and Ethnic Divides on Same Sex Marriage PDF The Wilf Family Department of Politics New York University Retrieved 11 April 2017 Ridley John February 9 2009 Faith Not Race The Big Factor in Prop 8 Vote Huffpost Retrieved March 12 2021 Local Exit Polls Election Center 2008 Elections amp Politics from CNN Retrieved 2013 11 01 California s Proposition 8 What Happened and What Does the Future Hold PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2010 01 07 Retrieved 2013 11 01 L A Jews overwhelmingly opposed Prop 8 exit poll finds latimes com Latimesblogs latimes com 2008 11 09 Retrieved 2013 11 01 Sacbee com California election exit poll data Retrieved August 20 2009 Archived November 8 2008 at the Wayback Machine Statement on Proposition 8 Passing by Ron Prentice Chairman of ProtectMarriage com ProtectMarriage com November 4 2008 Archived from the 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Attorney s Office 2009 07 23 Archived from the original on 2012 05 05 Retrieved 2009 07 23 Dolan Mora amp Williams Carol J 2009 06 13 Jerry Brown again says Prop 8 should be struck down Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2009 06 18 Egelko Bob 2009 08 19 Judge sets January trial for Prop 8 lawsuit San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved 2009 08 19 Egelko Bob 2009 06 17 Governor backs federal review of Prop 8 San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved 2009 06 18 Hollingswork v Perry Cornell Law School Retrieved September 15 2021 Laird Cynthia 2009 06 18 Brown still fighting Prop 8 Bay Area Reporter Retrieved 2009 06 23 Live from San Francisco Archived from the original on December 8 2010 Judge overturns California s ban on same sex marriage CNN 2010 08 05 McKinley Jesse 2010 08 12 Judge Sets End to Ban on Gay Marriage in California The New York Times Retrieved 12 August 2010 Reuters 17 August 2010 California gay marriages on hold again Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 17 August 2010 L A Now Los Angeles Times 2010 11 17 Retrieved 2010 11 18 2009 Ballot Measure Update California Secretary of State Archived from the original on 2008 06 05 Retrieved 2009 06 18 California Marriage Equality Act PDF California Secretary of State 2009 05 30 Archived from the original PDF on 2009 07 10 Retrieved 2009 06 18 Henderson Peter 2010 04 12 Gay marriage fails to get on California ballot Reuters Dolan Maura 2010 04 13 Prop 8 repeal fails to qualify for November ballot Los Angeles Times Prepare to Prevail PDF PreparetoPrevail com July 13 2009 Garofoli Joe 2009 07 17 Coalition of LGBT groups Next year too soon for gay marriage vote in CA San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved 2009 07 17 A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State relating to rights California Legislative Information February 14 2023 Retrieved February 15 2023 Gardiner Dustin July 5 2022 California s LGBTQ leaders are pushing to remove zombie same sex marriage ban from the state Constitution San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved November 18 2022 California will try to enshrine right to same sex marriage NBC News Associated Press February 14 2022 Retrieved February 14 2022 Melissa Alonso Shania Shelton July 14 2023 California voters will decide whether to repeal state s Prop 8 same sex marriage ban in 2024 CNN Retrieved July 16 2023 California Supreme Court Takes Action on Proposition 8 PDF Judicial Council of California November 19 2008 Retrieved November 19 2008 Perry v Schwarzeneggar pg 113 114 Archived from the original on February 10 2012 Retrieved February 8 2012 Perry v Schwarzeneggar pp 119 122 Archived from the original on February 10 2012 Retrieved February 8 2012 McKinley Jesse August 12 2010 Judge Sets End to Ban on Gay Marriage in California The New York Times Retrieved August 12 2010 Final Stay Order scribd com Retrieved August 12 2010 Reuters August 17 2010 California gay marriages on hold again Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved August 17 2010 Wisckol Martin January 4 2011 Prop 8 gay marriage ruling hits detour Ocregister com Retrieved October 31 2011 California Supreme Court to decide issue in same sex marriage ban case CNN February 16 2011 Retrieved February 16 2011 Dolan Maura February 17 2011 California Supreme Court reenters Proposition 8 fray Los Angeles Times Retrieved February 27 2011 Andy Towle September 7 2011 Yesterday s Hearing On Standing In The Prop 8 Case Full Video Reactions Ariane de Vogue November 17 2011 Prop 8 California Supreme Court Rules Sponsors Can Continue Case ABC News Perry v Brown California Supreme Court 11 17 11 Text Perry v Brown pg 5 Retrieved February 8 2012 Perry v Brown pg 79 80 Retrieved February 8 2012 Perry v Brown pg 77 Retrieved February 8 2012 Perry v Brown pg 69 Retrieved February 8 2012 Perry v Brown pg 63 Retrieved February 8 2012 Court Calif gay marriage ban unconstitutional CBS News CBS AP February 7 2012 Retrieved February 8 2012 a b c Dissenting Prop 8 judge says optimal partnership is man woman Latimesblogs latimes com 2012 02 07 Retrieved 2013 12 03 Jamison Peter 2012 02 07 Prop 8 Appeals Court Ruling Inside the Dissenting Opinion Blogs sfweekly com Retrieved 2013 12 03 a b Dolan Maura February 22 2012 Prop 8 backers seek full review by appeals court Los Angeles Times Retrieved February 29 2012 McVeigh Karen February 7 2012 Prop 8 California gay marriage ban struck down by federal appeals court The Guardian London Retrieved February 8 2012 California s Proposition 8 case headed to U S Supreme Court Mercurynews com 2012 06 05 Retrieved November 15 2012 Denniston Lyle July 31 2012 Proposition 8 defenders appeal filed FINAL UPDATE SCOTUSblog Retrieved August 3 2012 a b Hollingsworth v Perry no 12 144 docket Retrieved September 7 2012 The Ticket 2012 12 07 Supreme Court will hear two gay marriage cases The Ticket Yahoo News Retrieved 2013 11 01 supremecourt gov orders courtorders access date 2013 11 01 Understanding standing The Court s Article III questions in the same sex marriage cases I SCOTUSblog 2013 01 17 Retrieved 2013 11 01 a b Clarke Rachel June 26 2013 Supreme Court strikes down part of DOMA dismisses Prop 8 appeal CNN Archived from the original on June 26 2013 Retrieved June 26 2013 Strange bedfellows The rationale of the Prop 8 dissenters The Week 2013 06 26 Retrieved 2013 11 01 Winter Michael June 28 2013 Same sex marriages resume in Calif San Francisco plaintiffs in Prop 8 ruling are first couple to wed after appellate action USA Today Retrieved June 28 2013 Emergency stay of California same sex marriages sought SCOTUSblog June 29 2013 New gay marriage challenge fails SCOTUSblog June 30 2013 a b Goodbye and good riddance to Prop 8 Los Angeles Times editorial June 27 2013 a b Prop 8 backers ask court to stop weddings SFGate 2013 07 12 by Bob Egelko Same sex marriage foes file suit in clerk s name SFGate 2013 07 19 by Bob Egelko 24 Calif county clerks back same sex marriages SFGate 2013 07 22 by Bob Egelko Dolan Maura July 15 2013 California Supreme Court rejects bid to halt same sex marriages Los Angeles Times Retrieved July 17 2013 Dolan Maura August 14 2013 California Supreme Court rejects bid to revive Prop 8 Los Angeles Times External links nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to California Proposition 8 2008 nbsp Wikinews has news related to Proposition 8 The District Court s decision in Perry v Schwarzenegger Prop 8 Unconstitutional The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision Affirming Perry v Schwarzenegger Prop 8 Unconstitutional Video Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Trial on the Merits Video Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Trial on Recusal ProtectMarriage com Organizational sponsor of Proposition 8 No On Prop 8 Organizational opponent to Proposition 8 California Official Voter Information Guide on Proposition 8 Title and summary analysis arguments and rebuttals and the text of the proposition Scan of Initiative from California Attorney General website The Money Behind the 2008 Same Sex Partnership Ballot Measures OpenSecrets Proposition 8 map a detailed hyper linked map on David Leips election atlas Hollingsworth v Perry at SCOTUSblog Amicus briefs filed in Hollingsworth v Perry from the City Attorney of San Francisco Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2008 California Proposition 8 amp oldid 1206597098, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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