California gay marriage decision announced today. The decision will be posted online between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Pacific time, and will be written by Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker. Walker, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush, heard myriad witnesses testify about the history of marriage, the nature of homosexuality and the degree of power gays and lesbians possess in the political system.

New Jersey Supreme Court will not consider whether the state’s civil union law provides equal rights to gay couples before the case is heard in a lower court. The court said yesterday that it could not consider the merits of the claim by six same-sex couples that New Jersey’s civil union law is unconstitutional, until there is a trial record.

Although a majority of California voters say they support same-sex marriage, that endorsement is as tenuous as it was two years ago when voters told pollsters that they approved of the idea but still voted to ban the marriages.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) signed Executive Order 10-24 at the National Conference of the NAACP in Kansas City prohibiting employment discrimination in Missouri Government because of sexual orientation.

Robyn Deane, dressed in a red raincoat, jeans and heels, glanced at her handwritten notes before peering at the crowd gathered outside Virginia’s Capitol to promote the rights of gay and transgender state workers. For years, Deane, a man who is in the process of becoming of woman, had considered revealing her lengthy but largely unknown connection to Governor Robert F. McDonnell (R).

Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act’s denial of federal rights and benefits to lawfully married Massachusetts couples “offends” the notion of states’ rights as enshrined in the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Hawaii Republican Governor Linda Lingle yesterday vetoed legislation that would have permitted same-sex civil unions, ending months of speculation on how she would weigh in on the contentious, emotional debate.

Republican activists threw out their party chairwoman Saturday, then bucked Texas Governor Rick Perry by pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigration similar to Arizona’s new law. New Texas GOP Platform: criminalize gay marriage and ban sodomy, outlaw strip clubs and pornography.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that U.S. President Obama could end up vetoing legislation that would lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military, depending on what is included in the upcoming defense spending bill.

Transgendered people in the United States will be able to get their new gender recognized on their passports without having to undergo gender reassignment surgery. The new policy is based on recommendations from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, widely recognized as a leading authority on transgender issues.