California ballot Proposition 8 was drafted to amend the state constitution to include the following criteria for marriage: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Over the past two years, restricting marriage to heterosexual couples has gone from a divisive idea, to a hotly debated electoral measure, to a statewide law. Today, Proposition 8 was overturned by a federal judge. Here's a brief history of California's ban on same-sex marriage.