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On this day in 2008: California court backed same-sex marriage, igniting legal battle
The decision briefly made California the second state to allow same-sex marriages and triggered a later ballot fight over Proposition 8.
- Seventeen years ago, the California Supreme Court issued a landmark 4 to 3 ruling striking down the state's same-sex marriage ban, making California the 2nd state to allow gay and lesbian marriages.
- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who authorized marriages in 2004, celebrated at City Hall with couples like Shelly Bales and Ellen Pontak from Davis who helped trigger the ruling.
- Bales and Pontak described the ruling as the '2nd happiest day of my life,' while supporters inside City Hall expressed a "great sense of elation" and "boundless joy."
- Opponents quickly mobilized, promising a full-blown campaign to place a same-sex marriage ban on the November ballot, ultimately leading to the 2008 voter-approved Proposition 8 initiative.
- Although Proposition 8 temporarily banned same-sex marriage by defining it solely as between a man and a woman, federal courts eventually declared the initiative unconstitutional in 2013.
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24 Articles
24 Articles
On this day in 2008: California court backed same-sex marriage, igniting legal battle
Seventeen years ago today, the California Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling, striking down the state's ban on same-sex marriage, opening a brief but historic window for marriage equality.
·Boston, United States
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Leaning Left0Leaning Right0Center23Last UpdatedBias Distribution100% Center
Bias Distribution
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