Organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal Defense Fund, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed suit on behalf of Equality California and six same-sex couples asking the California Supreme Court to nullify the proposition.

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This suit argued that Proposition 8 should be declared invalid because it improperly attempts to undo the state constitution's core commitment to equality and deprives the courts of their essential role of protecting the rights of minorities.

According to the suit, the California Constitution makes clear that a major change in the roles played by the different branches of government cannot be made by a simple majority vote through the initiative process, but must first go through the state legislature. Changes to the underlying principles of the constitution must be approved by two-thirds of both houses of the legislature before going to voters. Since this procedure was not followed by the proponents of Proposition 8, it should be declared invalid, the suit urged.

Other lawsuits were filed by the City Attorney of the City of San Francisco (joined by his counterparts in the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, and Santa Clara) and by Robin Tyler and Diane Olson. The suit by the city attorneys made a similar argument to that of the gay rights organizations, that Proposition 8 attempted to revise rather than amend the constitution.

The suit filed by Tyler and Olson, who were among the first couples to be married after the ruling by the California Supreme Court in May, argued that Proposition 8 introduces a contradiction into the California State Constitution because it violates the equal protection clause.

Another suit was filed by several civil rights organizations, including the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, the California State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Equal Justice Society, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. This suit emphasized the danger that all minorities would face if the equal protection clause is subject to weakening by initiatives passed by a mere majority.

Still another suit was filed by feminist organizations.

In the aftermath of the election, it was not clear how the passage of Proposition 8 affected the legal status of the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed between June 17 and November 4, 2008. The Attorney General of California, Jerry Brown, issued an opinion that the marriages are valid and must continue to be honored by the state of California. However, this opinion was challenged by the supporters of Proposition 8, who pointed out that the language of the proposition clearly stated that California would "recognize" only marriages between a man and a woman.

On November 19, 2008, the California Supreme Court announced that it would review the lawsuits filed in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 8. It asked the parties to the suits to file additional papers and scheduled oral arguments for March 2009.

On the basis of the questions asked during oral arguments in March 2009, many observers predicted that the Court would uphold Proposition 8, but that it would not invalidate the same-sex marriages performed between June 17, 2008 and the passage of Proposition 8 in November 2008.

That, in fact, was the decision that the California Supreme Court handed down on May 26, 2009. In a 6-1 decision, written by Chief Justice George, the Court upheld the ban on same-sex marriage, while also narrowing the issue to a dispute about a mere word. The ruling rejected all the arguments put forward by those challenging Proposition 8.