paul helmkey, former president of brady campaign and, indiana university professor. the supre court took up the first major examination of gay rights in a decade. the court hearing arguments over california's proposition 8 which band same sex marriage. it is the first of two days of hearings on the subject. fox news supreme court correspondent shannon bream with our report. >> reporter: following argument today, the supreme court must now decide whether or not to uphold the wishes of california votersho, in 2008, ratified an initiative known as prop 8. itmended the california constitution to limit valid an legally recognized marriages to only those between man and one woman. a number of the justices today asked why individual states shouldn't be able to make their own decisions about the relatively new concept including samuel alito who said the idea of same sex marriage is newer than cell phones and the internet. >> on the question like that, of such fundamental importance, why should it not be left forhe people? either asking through initiatives and refer recommend