Prop 8 Definition

Impact

Proposition 8 was a 2008 California ballot initiative that established that only marriages between a man and a woman would be recognized in The Golden State. The voter-approved amendment to the state's constitution overturned a California Supreme Court's ruling from the same year that had granted same-sex couples of the state the constitutional right to marry. The passage of Prop 8 unleashed a series of protests, demonstrations and numerous lawsuits challenging the proposition's validity. United States District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, who is openly gay, overturned Proposition 8 on August 4, 2010 in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger, ruling that it violated both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution. Meanwhile, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals continued the stay, keeping Walker's ruling "on hold pending appeal." On February 7, 2012, in a 2–1 decision, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed Walker's decision declaring the Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional. And today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding Proposition 8.