Proposition 8 timeline

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1999: The Legislature passes and Gov. Gray Davis signs Assembly Bill 26 to create a domestic-partnership registry in California. The bill, by then-Assemblywoman Carol Migden, also requires hospitals to give domestic partners visitation rights and allows state and local employers to give spousal health benefits to partners.

2000: California voters, by 61 percent to 39 percent, pass Proposition 22, which defines marriage in state law as a union between a man and a woman. Then-Sen. William J. "Pete" Knight was the official sponsor of the initiative.

2001: Migden writes and Davis signs AB 25, a bill greatly expanding the rights of domestic partners. The new rights include health benefits through private group insurance, death benefits, sick leave, tax deductions and adoption of stepchildren.

2003: Then-Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg writes and Davis signs AB 205, giving domestic partners all the rights and duties of married partners under California law.

February 2004: Declaring that the California Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom orders the city clerk to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Hundreds of couples flock to the city to get married.

March 2004: Responding to a lawsuit filed against San Francisco by then- Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the California Supreme Court orders a temporary halt to San Francisco's gay marriages while it considers the case. The same day, San Francisco files a separate suit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 22, the state's ban on same-sex marriages.

August 2004: The state Supreme Court rules that Newsom had no legal authority to order the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples and strikes down those marriages as invalid. The court, however, leaves the door open to a legal challenge on the constitutionality of Proposition 22.

2005: The Legislature passes AB 849, by then-Assemblyman Mark Leno, in an attempt to legalize same-sex marriages in California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes the bill, saying it would violate the will of the people as expressed in the passage of Proposition 22. He says only the courts or the people can overturn that ban.

May 2008: The state Supreme Court rules 4-3 that Proposition 22's statutory ban on gay marriage violates the state constitution. The decision, written by Chief Justice Ronald George, legalizes gay marriage in California.

June 16, 2008: Gay marriages begin in California.

Nov. 4, 2008: Voters pass Proposition 8, which places into the state constitution the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

May 26, 2009: The state Supreme Court rules 6-1 to uphold Proposition 8.