Same-sex marriage opponents are all out of ammunition in California.
Prop 8 sponsors ProtectMarriage's last-gasp effort to stop gay weddings was rejected Monday by the California Supreme Court, which effectively killed the case by refusing to take it. That dries up the group's last drop of hope to stop same-sex marriages in the state.
Last month, ProtectMarriage asked the California high court to order county clerks to deny gays marriage licenses based on a technicality in California's constitutional.
Also read: California Same-Sex Marriage Opponents Stand and Fight on Technicality
Their argument: That by constitutional law, the governor's office can't stop enforcing Prop 8 until an appellate court has deems it unconstitutional — which they argue hadn't technically happened.
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 26 overturned part of the Defense of Marriage Act, upholding a San Francisco federal judge's 2010 overturning of Prop 8. Despite that, there's no appellate court ruling saying Prop 8 is unconstitutional — which is where ProtectMarriage was trying to hang its hat.
In a separate (and equally final) defeat for same-sex marriage opponents, the state’s high court also granted the dismissal of a case brought by San Diego County Clerk Ernest J. Dronenburg, who had petitioned the court on similar grounds.
Let those wedding bells ring.