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Gay marriage proponents had little chance of overturning Proposition 8 because California's notorious initiative process guarantees, in powerful legal language, voters' right to amend the state's constitution, legal analysts said Tuesday.

In the end, the California Supreme Court rejected arguments that the gay marriage ban, passed by the voters last fall, was such a fundamental change that it qualified as a constitutional revision - not just an amendment - and therefore needed to first go before lawmakers.

Chief Justice Ronald George, writing for the 6-1 majority, concluded that denying gay couples the word "marriage""does not have a substantial or, indeed, even a minimal effect on the governmental plan or framework of California."

The justices' conclusion that Proposition 8 is not a constitutional revision doesn't speak to the issue's significance, George wrote. He noted that it was California's initiative process that led to women's voting rights, the reinstatement of the state's death penalty and legislative term limits.

"Thus, it is clear that the distinction drawn by the California Constitution between an amendment and a revision does not turn on the relative importance of the measure but rather upon the measure's scope," he wrote.

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