Hip-Hop is coming out!

On August 4, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker rules that Proposition 8, the California initiative passed in November 2008 that banned same sex marriage, was unconstitutional.  At around the same time, bloggers revealed that our beloved Queen Latifah was spotted off the coast of France and Italy getting lovey with her personal trainer.  Along with Latifah's outting, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed into the Supreme Court. 

Since the beginning of gay rights activism that started with Stonewall in New York and Harvey Milk in San Francisco I am happy to see that love  is slowly but surely becoming more normalized.

There are still 76 countries that criminally prosecute homosexual acts, according to a recent study; seven of the nations impose the death penalty.

The decision was a result of a lawsuit filed by two same-sex couples who claimed that Prop 8 infringed their constitutional rights.  Voters had originally approved the ban in response to a California Supreme Court ruling that temporarily legalized same-sex marriage in the state.  Walker's decision is expected to be appealed and to eventually make its way to Supreme Court.  Currently five states and the District of Columbia allow same sex marriage.