California has always been progressive when it comes to gay rights, especially considering San Francisco could be described as the unofficial gay capital of the United States. It was the second state in the nation to legalize gay marriage before Prop 8. Currently gay marriage is legal in the state, but that wasn't without some upset in the beginning.

California first began issuing gay marriage licences in February of 2004. Thousands of marriages licenses were granted to same sex couples in California and couples even traveled from other states to marry as well. Soon after, there was a large push back from those opposing gay marriage and the Supreme Court declared those marriages void due to the state law.

There was a big backlash from LGBT supporters, and many newly wed gay couples were uncertain about the validity of their marriages. Lawsuits were filed against the state in response to Proposition 22, which was a law enacted by California in 2000 that restricted marriage to only opposite sex couples. The cases filed against Proposition 22 by same sex couples were known as the In re Marriage Cases. These cases argued that same sex couples were treated differently on the basis of sexual orientation and denied civil rights, which was not in accordance with the Equal Protections Clause of the California State Constitution.

The outcome of these cases resulted in the state reinstating the marriages done during that time; however, following these cases there was a petition to prevent any further gay marriages during that time called Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and only recognizing marriages between a man and a woman. During the years of November 2008 and June 2013, no new gay marriage licences were granted.

This created a large divide within the state between conservatives and liberals, with the bill passing at 52 percent for those in opposition, a little over half of the state was for gay marriage. A large amount of money was funneled into the passing of the bill from conservatives and the religious right, and even monetary support from outside of the state.There were protests, pickets, candlelight vigils and a lot of violence that resulted from the passing of the bill, especially against those entities that voted Yes on Prop 8. the main sponsor of the bill was a group called Protectmarriage.com.

According to the California General Attorney Website, Proposition 8 consisted of two sections that was known as the California Marriage Protection Act. This Act included an article known as Section 7.5, which stated that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Because of these two sections of the Act, there were a series of hearings surrounding the court case Perry v. Schwarzenager. During these hearings each side, those in favor of gay marriage, and those against it were able to argue their case in regards to the state's stance on gay marriage and whether the state should continue to deny same sex couples the right to marry or allow them. Thousands of protesters that took to the steps of the Supreme Court to fight against the bill.

This was the case heard around the nation. It no longer became about just California and their stance on gay marriage, but really was the catalyst for other states to begin to explore their own state rights. The lines between separation of church and state were heavily blurred, not only in the definition of marriage, but many churches, specifically the Mormon church funneled a lot of money into getting the Proposition passed.

In the end, justice prevailed in the light of religion, and the Proposition was struck down on the account that it was unconstitutional. Although the Proposition itself was a long and painful process for LGBT couples, the aftermath of the Proposition would ripple across state lines and create more opportunities for marriage equality around the nation and have a lasting effect on the battle and successful outcome of equality.