(Adds court challenges, analyst quotes, details) By Peter Henderson and Jim Christie SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - California and two other states voted in Tuesday's elections to ban same-sex marriage, overturning a right given to gays and lesbians in the liberal, trend-setting state just months ago in state court. But in an indication of the complex cultural map drawn on Tuesday, voters also rejected limits on abortion in South Dakota and Colorado in a loss for social conservatives as the country elected its first black president, Barack Obama, a Democrat. Voters in Florida and Arizona joined California in banning same-sex marriages, adding to the list of dozens of states with similar laws. Obama, an Illinois senator, won California and Florida. Rival Republican Sen. John McCain won his home state of Arizona, which in 2006 rejected a ban on same-sex marriage. Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council which worked for the anti-gay marriage measures, said the votes signaled Obama's mandate is for economic policy, "not one to implement a radical social policy." "What lost last night was the Republican Party, but it was not a rejection of traditional or moral values, because you have two states that voted for Barack Obama -- Florida and California -- that also passed the marriage amendments," Perkins told Reuters. California's Supreme Court had declared same-sex marriage a right in May, unleashing a flood of weddings. But the state's voters changed its constitution to rescind the right after one of the most expensive ballot campaigns in history in which both sides combined raised roughly $70 million. At least three groups on Wednesday launched legal challenges to the California ban with the state's supreme court. Debates also erupted on whether same-sex marriages over the last six months would be recognized. CLOSELY WATCHED Of the three measures to ban gay marriages, California's Proposition 8 was the most watched as the state is the most populous, is perceived as a political and cultural leader, and because it struck down a court-approved right. "It's significant in that this was the first time there was a referendum when same-sex marriage was the law," said Bill Whalen, an ex-aide to former California Gov. Pete Wilson. With 96.4 percent of precincts reporting, the California proposition was ahead by more than 4 percentage points. Exit polls suggested the coalition that helped Obama carry California by 24 percentage points split on the measure, with white liberals opposed and blacks and Hispanics in favor. "It looked like the level of turnout for Senator Obama may have helped pass Proposition 8," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. Some backers of same-sex marriage rights said they were consoled by the victory of Obama, who has reached out to the gay community and supports civil unions -- but not gay marriage. "We have Obama," Noelle Skool, 29, said as she checked identification at a popular lesbian bar in San Francisco's Mission district on Tuesday night. "It's small steps. Eventually they'll warm up to the fact that, hey, we're all equal.""The majority is not allowed to take away rights of a minority by a simple-majority vote," Jenny Pizer, senior counsel with a Lambda Legal which asked the California Supreme Court to invalidate the proposition, told Reuters. (Reporting by Peter Henderson, Alexandria Sage, Jim Christie and Ed Stoddard; editing by Vicki Allen)
