Yesterday, the California Supreme Court held unanimously that proponents of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that made gay marriage unconstitutional in California, have standing to defend its challenge in state court. The issue arose because the parties who would ordinarily defend a challenge to state law, the Governor and Attorney General, chose not to defend it, thus creating the opportunity for “civilians” to step in.

After being struck as federally unconstitutional in district court, the Ninth Circuit remanded the case, charging the California Supreme Court with deciding whether the proponents of Proposition 8 had the standing required to defend the suit, since they are not elected officials, and the relevant officials declined to defend the case.

The issue will now go back to the Ninth Circuit, which will determine standing for federal purposes, and then will perhaps rule on the merits, i.e. whether the prohibition violates the U.S. Constitution. The decision in that case would probably then be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could decide to hear the case or not.