Proposition 8

A new poll shows gay marriage has arrived in California – in public opinion if not in state lawbooks.

In a landmark victory for gay rights advocates, a federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled California's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.

As the 9th Circuit Court was striking down Proposition 8, the chairman of Goldman Sachs, probably the nation's most powerful investment bank, was taking an out-front stand in favor of same-sex marriage.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has a hard-won reputation for issuing sweeping, precedent-setting and liberal rulings that are often overturned by the more conservative U.S. Supreme Court.

In a major lift for supporters of California's same-sex marriage ban, the state's highest court ruled Thursday that proponents of ballot initiatives can defend their measures in court when the governor and attorney general refuse to do so.

Unmoved by claims that donors supporting California's same-sex marriage ban were harassed, a federal judge on Thursday denied a bid to conceal their identities.

The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday sharply revised downward its estimate of the number of same-sex households across the country, reflecting confusion over how to accurately count gay and lesbian couples that have gained varying degrees of legal recognition of their partnerships over the past decade.

Same-sex marriage is now legal in New York after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that was narrowly passed by state lawmakers Friday, handing activists a breakthrough victory in the state where the gay rights movement was born.

Little by little, in one court ruling after another, the legal opposition to gay marriage is being discredited.