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In May 2008, a court ruling made California the third state in which same-sex marriage was legal. (It is often forgotten but this ruling came after the California Legislature passed legislation legalizing gay marriage twice, only to have both bills vetoed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — who was at that very time hiding the fact that he had conducted an extramarital affair with his family’s housekeeper.)

In November that year, thanks primarily to a propaganda campaign laced with lies that was sponsored by anti-gay groups and paid for by rank-and-file Mormons in Utah, Proposition 8 passed, making gay marriage illegal in California.

Now, 56 months later, marriage equality has returned to California, making it both the third and thirteenth state to legalize gay marriage.