The California Supreme Court just issued its ruling upholding the validity of the Nov. 4 vote on Proposition 8, the referendum that negated the court’s May 2008 decision that legalized same-sex marriage in that state.

However the court also ruled that the approximately 18,000 same-sex marriages conducted in California during the five months that they were legal will remain valid.

In Dallas, Queer Liberaction will hold a protest rally starting at 7 p.m. at the intersection of Oak Lawn Avenue and Cedar Springs Road. The protesters will then march down Cedar Springs to the patio at TMC: The Mining Company, 3903 Cedar Springs Road, for a rally.

The Prop 8 decision was posted less than two hours after President Obama announced his first nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court: Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

If she is confirmed, Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, and only the third woman. LGBT observers have said that while Sotomayor has not had any major rulings on LGBT issues, she does appear to be progressive.

For more on these two breaking stories, visit www.DallasVoice.com