Top US court backs ban on gay marriage

California’s Supreme Court backed the state’s gay marriage ban but said the 18,000 same-sex weddings that took place beforehand were still valid, in a ruling described by activists as a hollow victory.

Demonstrators outside the court in San Francisco booed, wept and yelled: “Shame on you!” Activists said they would go back to the voters as early as next year in a bid to repeal the ban.