Court upholds Prop. 8

California’s same-sex couples who got married in the roughly six-month period in which it was legal last year will stay married after Tuesday morning’s state Supreme Court decision, but no new same-sex couples will be allowed to get married.

The 6-1 decision to uphold Proposition 8 was widely anticipated because the ballot initiative didn’t just make a law forbidding gay marriage like its predecessor Proposition 22; it changed the California Constitution to explicitly not recognize same-sex unions.

“I’m pleased that the court essentially followed the constitution and that’s the thing that I think is important,” said Sen. Tom Harman, who supported Proposition 8.

Harman also thought it was the right decision to allow the same-sex marriages that were performed when it was legal to remain in place, saying it would be like “pulling the rug out from under [those that were following the law]” to dissolve them.

Despite the near consensus on the legality of the proposition, some gay Newport-Mesa couples who got married while it was still sanctioned by the state said that the ruling undermined the symbolism of their marriages.

Jim Albright and Tom Peterson — a Newport Beach couple who got married the moment it was legalized — said that although they are still legally married the designation no longer carries the significance of representing equality and normalcy for gay relationships.

“It’s not really about our marriage; it’s about equality for everybody,” Albright said.

The Rev. Sarah Halverson, a gay-rights activist who preaches at Costa Mesa’s Fairview Community Church, has been preparing for a repeal of gay marriage rights since the Supreme Court ruled it was legal last May. She has married several same-sex couples and encouraged many more to get married while it was legal.

“I was on a mission to marry off everybody,” Halverson said.

Even though new gay couples can no longer marry, the pastor said that the title is still meaningful to many who married while it was legal, and it’s an important tool for leverage in the continued fight for gay marriage.

Future ballot measures to repeal the gay marriage ban are likely. Harman said that it’s hard to say which way they will fall given recent trends toward acceptance of same-sex unions.

“It’s like a bouncing ping-pong ball,” he said.