After two weeks of testimony by witnesses seeking to overturn Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage, the defense began its case on Monday, with a lengthy overview of the recent political gains by gay men and lesbians in the state and beyond.

The testimony apparently was an effort to undercut the plaintiffs’ argument that the proposition was part of a systemic and historical bias against gay men and lesbians.

The first defense witness, Dr. Kenneth P. Miller, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California, said that while the state’s voters had twice defined marriage as between only a man and a woman — with Proposition 22 in 2000 and Proposition 8 in 2008 — they had not invalidated other laws that extended benefits, like domestic partnerships for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender residents.

Read the rest of Jesse McKinley’s New York Times article here.