SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Califor-nia Supreme Court has ruled that the backers of California’s Proposition 8 have the standing to defend the proposition in court. The decision was made on behalf of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals who has asked for a decision.

The 9th Circuit will now decide how it wishes to proceed.

Proposition 8, formally known as the California Marriage Protection Act, was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections. The measure added a new provision to the Declaration of Rights, to the California Constitution and provides that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

In August of 2010, a district court struck down Prop 8 because California’s Governor and Attorney General declined to defend the law in federal court, but Prop 8?s sponsors stepped forward to do so. A federal appeals court took up the case, but put it on hold in order to ask the state’s highest court whether the sponsors have the legal right to bring the case.

The state Supreme Court decision is an advisory opinion that will be sent to the federal appeals court. That court will then take the ruling under consideration and determine on its own whether it thinks the supporters have the legal standing to bring the case.