Proposition 8 is dead.

The California Supreme Court pulled the plug Wednesday on any last hopes for anti–gay marriage proponents to resuscitate the law that banned same-sex marriage in the Golden State.

“Today's decision reaffirms that all loving, committed couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, have the freedom to marry in every county across the state,” says John Lewis, Marriage Equality USA legal and policy director.

In closed session, the state supreme court “rejected arguments by ProtectMarriage, Proposition 8's sponsors, that only an appellate court could overturn a statewide law,” the L.A. Times reported.

Proposition 8 backers are now out of legal challenges.

Over the past five years, it took outraged gay and straight folks, numerous legal battles and tens of millions of dollars, if not more, to achieve this victory.

Proposition 8 was passed on Nov. 4, 2008, the same day Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. A little more than 7 million voters approved the measure, while 6.4 million opposed it.

The following evening, Nov. 5, the LGBT community in Los Angeles and its straight allies gathered in West Hollywood to protest the gay marriage ban. The outrage in the air was palpable.

People angrily left West Hollywood and marched in the thousands to Hollywood and around the city, with CNN and other news outlets covering the protest, which sparked a national outcry.

Nightly marches in L.A.'s streets lasted — on and off — for at least a week.

California gay rights groups discussed placing a pro-gay marriage ballot measure before voters in 2010, but L.A.-based American Foundation for Equal Rights, founded by political consultants Chad Griffin and Kristina Schake, organized and pushed forward a federal lawsuit.

On Aug. 12, 2010, Proposition 8 was deemed unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker. AFER's powerhouse attorneys, Ted Olson and David Boies, were victorious.

The appeals process took Proposition 8 all the way to U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in June that Proposition 8 supporters did not have the right to defend the law in federal court. The state of California, which did have that right, refused to stand up for the gay marriage ban.

Proposition 8 supporters tried a last-ditch effort to keep the ban in place, but the California Supreme Court shot that down Wednesday.

Proposition 8 Is dead: 2008 – 2013.

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