"California voters won a major victory today as the California Supreme Court announced its decision to uphold Proposition 8 and leave the definition of traditional marriage in California's constitution as decided by voters in the November, 2008 election.

Andrew Pugno, General Counsel of ProtectMarriage.com - the official proponents of Prop. 8 - said the Court's ruling is a great victory for the people of California and for the millions of supporters of traditional marriage.

"We commend the California Supreme Court for upholding the right of the people to define marriage in our constitution," said Pugno. "The Court recognized that the power to amend the constitution ultimately belongs to the people. We are very grateful to the Court for agreeing with the arguments we presented in our briefs and in oral argument last March. For the second time now, the people have decided that marriage is reserved for a man and a woman and the Court has appropriately respected their decision."

Over 7 million people voted in favor of Proposition 8 last November. It won by a margin of 600,000 votes and achieved roughly the same percentage of support as President Barack Obama did nationally. Post election surveys show that Californians continue to support traditional marriage. If anything, support for gay marriage has declined while support for traditional marriage has increased.

Today's ruling closes the door on the latest challenges to the state's election process in an ongoing effort to legalize same-sex marriage in California. If gay activists wish to legalize same-sex marriage now, they will have to go to the people and seek their permission - something they have never done. Pugno promised that any future efforts to repeal Prop. 8 will be vigorously contested. ProtectMarriage.com will also vigorously oppose any further efforts in the state and federal courts to invalidate or weaken Prop 8.

According to Ron Prentice, Chairman of the ProtectMarriage.com Executive Committee, the Committee will now shift its focus on the long-term goal of continuing to protect marriage and strengthen family values.

"We will now turn our attention to public education and outreach so that citizens come to better understand and appreciate the many benefits that traditional marriage provides for society and our families," said Prentice. "The institution of marriage as we have always understood it has served California and our broader society since the nation was founded. We look forward to working with young people, churches, ethnic communities and all of California with an ongoing discussion about the benefits of traditional marriage."