ted boutrous joining us now. good morning, ted.ty front. >> this is a huge development. the first circuit court of appeals in boston struck down as violating equal protection the perversely named defense of marriage act which allowed gay couples from getting equal protection, and the court found it violates equal protection. >> i'll never forget hearing senator boxer speak in person a few years ago, when i first heard defense of marriage act i literally thought it would help married people, and when i found out what it was, i was like what? and it seems like more and more courts are fining that. >> it captures it because it is called the defense of marriage act, and one of the thing it talked about preventing a gay couple of getting married would prevent straight couples from getting married. >> this is obviously on a number of tracks now -- talk to us about what happens. i know this is the first time a federal appeals court has recognized our constitution will not -- tell us what happened. >> absolutely. we now have a nationwide -