Tuesday, on May 26, California’s highest court rejected the claim of the LGBT rights advocates to recognize Proposition 8 as unconstitutional and overturn it, www.cnn.com informs.

The decision additionally reinforcing legally the privilege of marriage to heterosexuals only was made 6 against 1.

The judges said their ruling was not retroactive – meaning those 18,000 couples, married from May to November, 2008 (before voting for Proposition 8 that banned same-sex marriages), will remain legally married.

Republicans and conservative society hailed the news, but about 1,000 LGBT activists who gathered outside the court building in San Francisco met the decision announced shouting “Shame on you.”

Afterwards, supporters of same-sex marriage took the protest actions. During those protests 159 adults and 3 juveniles were arrested and cited for “jaywalking” by San Francisco police.

Similar rallies were held in the same evening in Los Angeles, where 3,500 to 5,000 protestors took part. There were also reports of massive demonstrations in San Diego and some other California cities, as well as in major cities nationwide

“It is impossible to square the elation that we felt just a year ago with the grief that we feel today. And it is impossible to reconcile the court's ruling from a year ago with its upholding of Proposition 8 today,” said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

It is considerable, that the same court, dominated by Republican appointees, ruled in May 2008 that the state constitution granted Californian gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. Voters responded in November by approving the marriage ban by 52 to 48 percent, backing Proposition 8 and thus, banning same-sex marriages.

Opponents of the ban argued that it improperly altered California’s constitution to restrict a fundamental right guaranteed in the state charter. Supporters of Proposition 8 argued however that Californians long have had the right to change their state constitution through ballot initiatives.

“Tuesday's ruling found that the proposition restricted the designation of marriage while not otherwise affecting the fundamental constitutional rights of same-sex couples,” Chief Justice Ronald George noted, commenting on the Supreme Court’s decision.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Carlos Moreno - the court's only Democratic appointee - said that the decision “is not just a defeat for same-sex couples, but for any minority group that seeks the protection of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution.”

Detailed information on the topic is available on: www.cnn.com.