Earlier today, California’s Supreme Court ruled to uphold Proposition 8. Known as “Prop 8″ for short, this initiative eliminates the right of same sex couples to marry.

I got word of a protest happening just a few blocks from my place after work – so I went home, recharged, grabbed the gear and ran over to check it out. I uploaded photos and live-blogged via my Twitter feed – and finally, took some of the best clips for this video below. Be kind, this is a rough cut – but I wanted to get it up anyhow. Check it out.

Earlier that day just a few blocks down – at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House had this to say about California’s decision. Don’t blink or you’ll be sure to miss it.

Finally, don’t miss what celebrities had to say on Twitter – thanks to E!’s new celeb twitter feed.

Last Friday my iPhone made the usual buzz from the back of my desk. I had a hunch it was a New York Times Mobile Alert because those are the only text I get during the day. I know, such a tool.

In any case, the Mobile Alert was a sore subject. I joked the day before that the Times was beginning to abuse their text privileges. It seemed every afternoon I got another “breaking news,” alert. Or should I say, a 200 character doomsday report.

But this day was different and my fingers found a different notice of news. Iowa had struck down an amendment to ban gay marriage. It was huge.

According to a spokesperson for Lambda Legal, a national gay rights activist group, Iowa was the perfect first move in a strategic game to start winning states over – one by one.

“There is a tradition of independence and willingness to stand up on issues of fairness [in Iowa],” Jennifer C. Pizer, marriage project director for Lambda Legal told the New York Times.

Another advocacy group that no doubt took this ruling as a stripe in the win column is Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD).

If you remember, (which I didn’t but Google is great), Massachusetts voted to allow same-sex marriage in 2004. After that 26 states turned the other way and approved Constitutional bans on the same thing. With the passage of Prop 8 that banned gay marriage in California last November, it seemed the voters were sending a message. Not Yet.

But with the win of Iowa and a strategy to win six more states by 2012, it just might be the decade of the underdog.