I am sorry to hear that so much money (74 million) was spent on proposition 8 in California, for and against, especially in a time of recession.
For the government (whatever branch of it, judicial or legislative) to give a group of people a right and then for these citizens to see it taken away by the majority of the voters via a ballot proposition -- this doesn't seem right. It may be an instance of pure democracy, democracy without representation -- a purely popular vote with the concerned parties swayed by passions (not that the parties see it that way). You can see how it works and then have a new appreciation for the legislature.