So says Jan Crawford:

The appeals court panel hearing arguments on the constitutionality of the California gay marriage ban indicated this afternoon they will rule it violates the rights of gays and lesbians — with the only question being just how broadly the ruling will be.

(That of course assumes the appeals court will reach the question — they first have to decide whether the Prop. 8 supporters have legal standing to defend the law.)

If they reach the merits, the judges today were clearly were skeptical of arguments by the lawyer for Prop. 8 supporters. But at the same time, they also seemed reluctant to issue a sweeping ruling for gay marriage.

As for those less sweeping rulings the judges hinted at, as way of background, I interviewed Lambda Legal about how this could shake out here.

More reactions to today's hearing from Prop 8 Trial Tracker here, and the blow-by-blow of the arguments here.