Proposition 8

A leader in this year's successful ballot fight to ban same-sex marriage in California is planning to run for a Sacramento-area Assembly seat.

Yes, tying the knot gave them a huge emotional lift. But getting married also made practical sense to Paul Curtis and Ray Allen.

Proponents of same-sex marriage are preparing new political and legal efforts to overturn the Supreme Court-supported ban on those unions.

Opponents of the state's gay marriage ban, upheld by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, said they would go back to voters in an attempt to overturn it.

Gretchen and Lisa Bender are now part of a special group. They are among the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who wed between June and November of last year and whose marriages were upheld Tuesday by the California Supreme Court.

California's Supreme Court will issue a ruling Tuesday that will either uphold Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban, or overturn it as illegal and unconstitutional.

Seeking to win more acceptance in "Middle America" for gay marriage, activists are starting TV ads Monday in California featuring same-sex couples and their families.

California's legislators were gay-rights trailblazers when a majority passed the first same-sex marriage bill in the United States in 2005.

A Roseville couple who refused to sign their marriage license because new forms didn't use the terms "bride" and "groom" have settled their lawsuit with the state, their attorney said.

In the eyes of immigration authorities, Shirley Tan is in the country illegally. Federal courts have denied her bid for asylum. But beyond that court battle, she argues that the law discriminates against her because she is a lesbian – and cannot be sponsored for citizenship by her partner.

At California's historic hearing on Proposition 8 earlier this month, Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin briefly imagined a scenario that might solve the legal conflict over a gay marriage ban.

An additional complaint about the Mormon church's support for Proposition 8 rolled into the state's Fair Political Practices Commission this week.

An additional complaint about the Mormon church's support for Proposition 8 rolled into the state's Fair Political Practices Commission this week.

Four months after the passage of Proposition 8, a new opinion poll released today shows California voters almost evenly divided over same-sex marriage but significantly more accepting of it than just three years ago.

For much of Jacques Whitfield's 11-year marriage he maintained a parallel life. He cheated on his wife and, he said, cheated himself.

It comes down to your perspective.

Gay-marriage supporters say they aren't waiting idly while the state Supreme Court decides if Proposition 8 – the same-sex marriage ban – is constitutional.

Hank Donat and Jeff Halperin, who already shared one moment in history, were not going to be denied another Thursday.

Gay marriage advocates have a steep climb to invalidate the ban voters approved in Proposition 8, according to legal experts who Thursday watched California Supreme Court justices cast a skeptical eye on their case during three hours of oral arguments.

Mary and Bob Statham watched the Supreme Court hearings on two computers in their home office in Orangevale. They liked what they saw.

Tina Reynolds couldn't help herself. On one half of her computer, she watched the court hearings. On the other half, she commented on a local Web site about what was going on in the courtroom.

"Today is historic. It's the pivotal point on a civil rights issue. It could turn out badly in the short run. But in the long run, it will turn out better. The momentum is changing."

The challenge to Proposition 8, the ballot initiative approved by voters in November that defines marriage as between a man and a woman, comes before the state's highest court today, offering a televised view of the oral arguments in one of the state's most polarizing and controversial issues.

SAN FRANCISCO — California Supreme Court justices heard more than three hours of arguments on the validity of California's gay marriage ban today, hammering both sides with questions as thousands watched in the streets outside the courthouse.

One of the top legal minds opposing gay marriage in California is an estate planner from Folsom.

As anticipation builds toward a high court hearing on gay marriage, actor Sean Penn added drama Tuesday by urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – a fellow actor – to reverse his opposition to a day honoring slain gay activist Harvey Milk.

Just days before an historic state Supreme Court hearing on Proposition 8, the Legislature approved a resolution Monday declaring that voters alone did not have the right to adopt the gay-marriage ban.

Kenneth Starr and Shannon Minter, lead attorneys in the California Supreme Court case that will decide the fate of same-sex marriage in the state, are as different as the competing sides they represent.

As gays and lesbians have fought for rights and won elected office, public opinion has shifted.

As Derald Granberg follows the legal challenge to Proposition 8 now before the California Supreme Court, he thinks back to 1966.

Sunday morning after church, Alan Leatherby thinks about ice cream.

When it comes to love and money, it's never all hearts and flowers. And for same-sex couples, the financial issues are especially complex.

A resident's request for a resolution that declared Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional to be put on the City Council agenda was rejected Tuesday.

For years, the Rev. David Thompson has angered some members of the Presbyterian community with his views.

Proposition 8, the successful effort to abolish same-sex marriage in California, attracted more than 144,000 donations from voters on both sides of the issue.

The California Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will hear oral arguments in the challenge to Proposition 8 on March 5, setting the stage for one of the most anticipated hearings in the court's recent history.

The Mormon church has revealed in a campaign filing that the church spent nearly $190,000 to help pass Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that banned gay marriage in California.

WEST HOLLYWOOD – Cleve Jones extended his microphone in the upscale bar as though handing a baton to the next generation.

A federal judge Thursday denied a request by Proposition 8 supporters to withhold disclosure of late campaign donors to California's same-sex marriage ban, saying the public has a right to know.

Gay rights activists are weighing the wisdom of rushing in front of voters a repeal of the state ballot measure that banned gay marriage.

California's attorney general and election watchdogs are fighting back against a federal lawsuit seeking to bar disclosure of late donors to the state's same-sex marriage ban.

The California Supreme Court, in one of its most important cases, is weighing a challenge to Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. If the court upholds Proposition 8, one of the people you can blame is Attorney General Jerry Brown.

Angered by the passage of Proposition 8, grass-roots activists are working to place measures on the ballot to reverse California's ban on same-sex unions.

Advocates of same-sex marriage rights were shocked when, contrary to some pre-election polls, California voters last year passed Proposition 8, which would bar such unions, by nearly 600,000 votes.

Democratic lawmakers are moving forward with legislation expanding rights and recognition for gays and lesbians in California while the state Supreme Court considers the fate of same-sex marriage.

Last November, 13,402,566 California voters expressed themselves for or against Proposition 8, which said that their state's constitution should be amended to define marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. The voters, confident that they had a right to decide this question by referendum, endorsed Proposition 8 by a margin of 52.3 percent to 47.7 percent.

A coalition of more than 50 labor unions Tuesday urged the California Supreme Court to overturn a ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in the state.

The fight over gay marriage in California is growing like a movement or a cancer, depending on your perspective.

It was surprising to note that The Bee's editorial board supported California Attorney General Jerry Brown's flip-flop on the legality of Proposition 8, whose passage defined the word "marriage" as a union between a man and a woman.