WASHINGTON — Dozens of prominent Republicans — including top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress — have signed a legal brief arguing that gay people have a constitutional right to marry, a position that amounts to a direct challenge to Speaker John A. Boehner and reflects the civil war in the party since the November election.
The document will be submitted this week to the Supreme Court in support of a suit seeking to strike down Proposition 8, a California ballot initiative barring same-sex marriage, and all similar bans. The court will hear back-to-back arguments next month in that case and another pivotal gay rights case that challenges the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Comments
Wonderful!
This was the right move. This issue is has been worked over ad-nauseum and guess what? The smart Americans are ready for this because it's not an issue after all. Just sign it.
I hope everyone will remember, it was Justice Kennedy who wrote the 6-3 majority opinion that struck down Texas anti-sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. He could very well be the swing vote here, knowing that Alito, Thomas and Scalia are adamantly opposed to any such change in the law. Hopefully, this possibility will also apply to the First Circuit decision also on the docket for striking down DOMA....
We shall see. I predict, no changes will be made.
Politics is such a marvelous sport. " I am adamantly opposed to gay marriage", that is the cry of the right, until - it is politically expensive. Zealots on every side watch their beloved party wander off the ideological reservation everytime that party discovers it is politically uncomfortable. One has to wonder when zealots will learn. They didn't learn with statements like, "deficits don't matter", "read my lips", or any other number of flat out statements by pols from both sides of the political spectrum.
Happily in this one instance they are get off the ideological band wagon for a worthy cause. Too bad it took so long.