The California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage, by a 6-1 vote Tuesday.

Prop. 8 passed in November and overturned a previous judicial decision on same-sex marriage by adding the ban to California’s state constitution. In the ruling, the court also said that 18,000 marriages performed before Prop. 8 passed were still legal.

The court’s move means the issue will likely appear again on the state’s ballot, but two noted attorneys who represented opposite sides in the Bush-Gore election battle nine years ago are challenging Proposition 8 in federal court.

Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, who represented George W. Bush, and David Boies, who represented then-Vice President Al Gore, filed a preliminary injunction in federal court Wednesday morning that calls for restoring marriage rights for gays in California until the legal battle over Prop. 8 is concluded.

The broader suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, argues that Prop. 8 creates a class of “second-class citizens” and thereby violates the U.S. Constitution. “This unequal treatment of gays and lesbians denies them the basic liberties and equal protection under the law that are guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment,” the suit states. Olson and Boies are suing on behalf of two same-sex couples that were denied marriage licenses due to Prop. 8.

Other California groups are banding together to push another ballot initiative to reinstate same-sex marriage in the 2010 election cycle. One such group, Courage Campaign, is urging its members help raise funds for advertising in the 2010 election and begun airing a 60-second television ad to encourage support for same-sex marriage.

The effects of the decision were felt in Wyoming, where House Bill 17, a measure to define marriage as only between heterosexual couples, was hotly debated in the State House due to its non-recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Some Laramie residents feel the Prop. 8 ruling will not stall the same-sex marriage movement, and could incite younger voters to be active in support of same-sex marriage in Wyoming.

“The ASUW vote in support for domestic partner benefits this spring is a great example of this,” said Matt Stech, a recent UW graduate. “Many, if not most students at UW, think it is fine to love whomever you choose, and believe in equal recognition. Twenty years ago this was not the case. I believe that in the next few years, shifting demographics, compassion, education and empathy will win equal access to civil unions in California and eventually Wyoming.”

"This is not a matter of opinion, morality or sexuality,” UW student Cameron Maris said. “This is a matter of freedom and civil rights for every American. Even though the names and faces are different, this is the very same civil rights struggle that Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks fought. Proposition 8 is a lost battle in a very big war, and I have no doubt that despite these setbacks, the fight for equal marriage rights will be won on a federal level."

Kyle Bushbaker of the student GLBTQ group Spectrum referred to the bill’s passage as, “a sad decision and a return to the dark ages for civil rights.”

The California Supreme Court considered only the constitutionality of the measure at the state level. The suit filed in U.S. District Court could ultimately force the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has been traditionally divided on same-sex marriage.

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