Marriage equality gets its big day in front of the California Supreme Court today, and, unlike its previous court appearance, this time you can watch the action unfold live. 

Head to the California Channel to watch the hearing online or, if you live in California, head here for local listings to view the historic trial on TV. 

The California Supreme Court's hearing on Prop 8 is slated to begin today at 10 a.m. (PST).

As always, we will keep you updated on any big news to come from the hearing, so stay tuned to InstinctMagazine.com as well!

As we speak, err, type, same-sex couples and their families are preparing to gather on the steps of the California State Building in San Francisco for a "No Standing for Prop 8" sit-in. The event is being held in protest to the discriminatory homophobic law, which begins an appeals case on its standing merits in front of the California Supreme Court today. Details follow.

Somebody get Rick Santorum a dictionary! Stat! First, he accused the gay community of a "jihad" against him (even though he is the one waging a holy war against the LGBT); now, he's saying that criticisms of his intense promotion of discrimination against a segment of the American people amounts to "an act of bigotry." Grab the Platinum Wet—you'll need it to lube up the eye sockets for the epic amount of eye-rolling available after the jump.

If this isn't masturbation, then I don't know what is. New York's lead anti-gay, anti-Christian (in the sense that he fights for everything Biblical Jesus stood against) Sen. Ruben Diaz is set to become the first recipient of the...yep, "Ruben Diaz Courage Award."

Dustin Lance Black's play 8 has finalized casting and it looks like they found two leading men not unfamiliar to their roles, playing Instinct's own leading men Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo. Details after the jump.

Bigoted North Carolina Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam took a skip down the slippery slope when arguing in favor of a constitutional ban on equality in his state. Details follow.

Yet another poll finds that a majority of youth, even those who describe themselves as religious, supports far-reaching rights and equality for the LGBT community. Take that, olds!

Chris Cilliza, our MSNBC crush and author of WaPo's The Fix column, has raised a great point about the 2012 GOP presidential candidates: if they want to kiss the KFC-filled asses of the Tea Party, they need to start picking between states rights or a federal amendment banning marriage equality. They can't have their tea and drink it too. 

Jihad? Last time we checked, Rick Santorum was the one engaging in a religious war against us. Don't let factual word definitions, logic or the good American values of equality and freedom get in the way of the frothy mix GOP presidential candidate getting it backwards, however. Video and details follow.

Prop 8 Trial Tracker is doing the dirty work (our favorite kinda job!) and is live-blogging today's hearing debating the release of the Prop 8 trial tapes. An excerpt from this morning follows.

As I batten the hatches (code for stock up on cases bottles of the vino) at a boy-bunker in Chelsea, Manhattan ahead of Hurricane Irene's direct hit (expected early Sunday a.m.), a little chuckle courtesy of Christwire provides a nice distraction...