To lay people like me, the federal Prop 8 case seems to boil down to the constitutional rights of gays as a group of historically disadvantaged people versus the political will of "the people" based on their religious beliefs. After the majority of the case concluded last Januray, philosopher/columnist Linda Hirshman wrote in the Daily Beast that the "gay-marriage case now unfolding in a San Francisco courtroom may be the most important battle between tradition and modernity since the Scopes trial."

Indeed, one of the questions plaintiff's counsel has been instructed by Walker to answer in closing arguments is whether sexual orientation is a "choice" or not - a key to whether gays can be legally considered a minority deserving of equal protection under the US Constitution.