California's Supreme Court has voted 6-1 to uphold the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

18,000 existing same-sex unions will remain legal but no future gay marriages will be allowed.

On November 4th, 2008, Californians voted 'Yes' on Proposition 8 — an initiative seeking to ban same-sex marriage in the state. Previous legislation allowing gay couples to marry has now been overturned and the ban was put into effect immediately. Now, more than 18,000 same-sex marriages in the state have been put into legal jeopardy.

Total spending on the initiative, both for and against the Prop 8, reached a staggering $74 million, making it the most expensive social-issues campaign in U.S. history and the most expensive campaign this year outside the race for the White House.

On November 19, 2008, California's Supreme Court agreed review the ban and to hear legal challenges that have been "filed by groups of same-sex couples, a gay rights body and a group of local governments".

NowPublic will be tracking public response to this controversial decision. For live updates from the microblogosphere click on the 'Scan' tab on this page.