Today, the Supreme Court will again examine the constitutionality of a case related to same-sex marriage, this time on whether the federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA , violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection clause. Learn more about today’s arguments here. 

For the first time, the Supreme Court will take up gay marriage. Tuesday’s arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court involving California’s ban on same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8, boil down to this: Can a popular vote revoke a privilege already granted by a state government? And does the 14th Amendment prevent California from defining marriage as between a man and a woman? Here’s your rundown.

Voters in North Carolina approved the constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. 

N.C. Marriage Vote Opponents Play on Civil Rights Message

Breaking: Court Upholds Proposition 8 Unconstitutional Ruling

“Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the ruling.

(Photo by Catherine Wise/NewsHour)