THE GOVERNOR of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has predicted that the marriages of 18,000 gay and lesbian couples will remain valid, despite a ballot initiative that last week outlawed same-sex unions in the state.
He also said he hoped the California Supreme Court would overturn proposition 8, which reversed the court's own decision last May to allow gay couples the right to wed. The initiative was approved by 52 per cent of the state's voters after a fraught campaign in which groups on both sides were estimated to have spent some $73 million (€57 million).
"It's unfortunate, obviously, but it's not the end," Mr Schwarzenegger said in a TV interview. "I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area."
The governor publicly opposed proposition 8, which amends the state constitution to declare that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California".
On Sunday, he urged backers of gay marriage to follow the lesson he learned as a bodybuilder trying to lift weights that at first were too heavy for him. "I learned that you should never ever give up. They should never give up . . . They should be on it and on it until they get it done."
The governor's position on the fate of those marriages that were registered between mid-June, when recognition of same-sex unions took effect, and Tuesday's election echoes that of California attorney general Jerry Brown, who has said he believes the state Supreme Court will uphold existing marriages as valid.
This reassures Michael Fleming, a third-generation Irish-American who lives in Los Angeles and married his partner in October.
The couple are among 18,000 who have married since the Supreme Court's decision and whose unions were thrown into doubt last Tuesday. Mr Fleming points out that proponents of "prop 8" have not challenged the validity of the marriages and he is confident that they will not be annulled.
"The attorney general and the governor, as well as many legal experts, believe that the marriages that occurred between the time of the Supreme Court's decision and election day are valid and will remain valid and, to date, there has been no challenge to them," he said. "I'm much more concerned about people who did not get married and their inability to do so."
Mr Fleming, who served on the executive committee of "No on 8", an umbrella body for more than 50 community groups, said he was heartened that gay marriage had won the support of 48 per cent of California voters, compared to 39 per cent in a similar ballot eight years ago.
"That's a big change, and I think the fact that every politician in this state, every newspaper, every union, every corporation lined up on the No side - I think that's all incredibly encouraging," he said. "But clearly we have work to do, not just in California but across the country."
Large protests have taken place across the state since the initiative was passed last week and a number of lawsuits challenging the validity of the proposition have already been filed.