Just last week the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to declare the section of the federal law that only recognizes male-female marriages unconstitutional for as it stands it currently denies legally married same-sex couples many of the same federal benefits that straight married couples enjoy. Thursday, the administration has going further in its stance for marriage equality. As first reported by the Associated Press, the Supreme court will be asked to overturn Proposition 8 and look closely at similar bans.
The news came just in the wake of Thursday's deadline being the last day for filing briefs in support of the two gay couples who launched the legal battle over Proposition 8 four years ago.
Although the brief in the Prop 8 case doesn't not call for marriage equality for same-sex couples across the United States, it definitely will open the court's eyes to the possibility and a step in a promising direction.
And after initially vowing to stay on the sidelines, the administration is stepping up to the plate and standing behind a promise made by Obama during the inaugural address when he said, "our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anymore else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well."
This proclamation by the president acknowledges denying couples like Thom Watson and Jeff Tabaco from California or any gays and lesbians the right to marry violates the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause which states "that no person or class of persons shall be denied the same protection of the laws that is enjoyed by other persons or other classes in like circumstances in their lives, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness."
The justices in the case will hear oral arguments on March 26.
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