California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday expressed hope that California's Supreme Court would overturn Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage.
Schwarzenegger made the remarks as protesters took to the streets for a fifth day in a row, sometimes marching to Catholic and Mormon churches that supported passage of the ballot measure with public pronouncements and campaign donations.
The governor told backers of gay marriage not to give up, saying, the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples, who have already married would not be affected by the initiative.
"It's unfortunate, obviously, but it's not the end," Schwarzenegger said in an interview with CNN.
"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," he said.
Schwarzenegger has publicly opposed Proposition 8, which amends the state constitution to declare that, "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
Voters in California approved Proposition 8 by passing a state ballot measure on Nov. 4.
In response to the passage of the proposition, civil officials in Los Angeles on Nov. 5 suspended the issuance of all marriage licenses for same-sex couples, noting that constitutional changes approved by voters take effect the day after the election.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown said any same-sex couples married since May, when the same-sex marriage was legalized by a state Supreme Court ruling, will remain married, but his office would now defend Proposition 8 as the law of the state.
But the proposition by conservative and religious groups still faces uphill legal challenges.
Same-sex marriage supporters have filed three lawsuits at the California Supreme Court, challenging the legality of the proposition and asking the court to overturn it because it effectively represented a revision of the state constitution, not a simple amendment.