Like civil rights? Thank the Judicial Branch.%uFFFD
In our system of government, issues of social justice are remedied in the courts -- which is only natural since minorities, by definition, are underrepresented at the polls. (It's also why reactionaries have adopted the strategy of railing against "activist judges".)
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So it's no surprise that the overwhelming majority of victories in the war for marriage equality have been in the courts -- which is why the 9th District case Perry v. Schwarzenegger challenging the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 is of such particular interest.
Predictably, TV news coverage has been mostly shallow: what's this YouTube thing everybody's been talking about; what do people demonstrating outside the courthouse have to say about their feelings; etc.
But the folks at Prop 8 Trial Tracker have been doing a bang-up job live-blogging about the proceedings and offering their astute, if vitriolic, analysis. Highly recommended for anybody who is into this issue (and, if you're gay, or if you have any friends or relatives who are, you probably should be).