 Prop 8 is heading to the Supreme Court, and another judge finds the Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional. That brings the total ruling against DOMA to five in just the past few months. More polls show that the supporters of the Freedom to Marry outnumber our opponents, and good news for bi-national couples, with a groundbreaking announcement by the Department of Homeland Security. At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, I'm Matt Baume, and welcome to Marriage News Watch for August 6, 2012. AFER's case against Proposition 8 is heading to the Supreme Court. Having lost twice, the Prop 8 proponents have now petitioned the Supreme Court for review. The court will decide whether to take the case this fall, visit AFER.org for more information, and to sign up for breaking news alerts on the case. The Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, again. This time it was a federal case in Connecticut, Peterson v. Office of Personnel Management. Judge Vanessa Bryant wrote that, quote, DOMA fails to pass constitutional muster. The court finds that no conceivable rational basis exists for the provision, unquote. This is the fifth ruling this year that DOMA violates the Constitution. The other four rulings are Windsor v. United States in New York on June 6, Gill v. OPM in Boston on May 31, Dragovich v. Department of Treasury in California on May 24, and Galinsky v. OPM in California on February 22. Meanwhile, in the Court of Public Opinion, support continues to grow. A new Pew survey shows that 48 percent of Americans support the Freedom to Marry compared to 44 percent who oppose. That's a big change from 2008, when the same poll showed just 39 percent support and 51 percent opposed, and in 2004, 31 percent supportive marriage and 60 percent were opposed. Among Democrats, support is currently at 65 percent, a jump of 15 points since 2008, and Republican support, while still just 24 percent, has increased five points in the last four years. There was also encouraging news for bi-national couples this week with the Department of Homeland Security confirming that it will consider marital status of same-sex couples during deportation proceedings. That doesn't guarantee that a marriage will protect foreign spouses from deportation, but it's a significant advancement and the first time that a federal agency has expressed a policy recognizing gay and lesbian relationships. And finally, in Maryland, a proposed marriage equality law has 54 percent support, with just 40 percent opposed. Maryland voters will decide this November whether the law will go into effect. Our lead there has grown slightly since April, when the same survey showed 51 percent support and 43 percent opposed. Those are the headlines. Visit a4.org for more on the federal fight to overturn Prop 8 in California. At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, I'm Matt Baume. We'll see you next week.