Attorney General Files Brief Asking SCOTUS to Overturn California Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

Last edited Thu Feb 28, 2013, 08:31 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: CBS News

@CBSNews: JUST IN: Attorney General Eric Holder files brief asking Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on same sex marriages

Obama administration urges Supreme Court to overturn gay marriage ban

Opponents of Proposition 8, California's anti-gay-marriage bill, celebrate outside the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco Feb. 7, 2012. / GETTY IMAGES
Updated 7:07 PM ET

WASHINGTON In a historic argument for gay rights, President Barack Obama on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to overturn California's same-sex marriage ban and turn a skeptical eye on similar prohibitions across the country.

The Obama administration's friend-of-the-court brief marked the first time a U.S. president has urged the high court to expand the right of gays and lesbians to wed. The filing unequivocally calls on the justices to strike down California's Proposition 8 ballot measure, although it stops short of the soaring rhetoric on marriage equality Obama expressed in his inaugural address in January.

The Justice Department issued a statement by Attorney General Eric Holder about the government's filing:

"In our filing today in Hollingsworth v. Perry," said Holder, "the government seeks to vindicate the defining constitutional ideal of equal treatment under the law. Throughout history, we have seen the unjust consequences of decisions and policies rooted in discrimination. The issues before the Supreme Court in this case and the Defense of Marriage Act case are not just important to the tens of thousands Americans who are being denied equal benefits and rights under our laws, but to our Nation as a whole."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57571952/obama-administration-urges-supreme-court-to-overturn-gay-marriage-ban/