Just one month before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the California’s same-sex marriage ban, President Obama is expected to formally express support for marriage equality. Today is the deadline to file a “friend of the court” brief against Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. News outlets are reporting that the Obama administration will file a brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn the proposition.
When Californians narrowly voted in favor of the initiative four years ago, the public was evenly divided on the issue; the proposition passed with 52.2 percent of the vote and 51 percent of Americans supported gay marriage. Today, that figure is 61 percent, according to a February Field poll.
This wouldn’t be the first time Obama voiced support for same-sex marriage. In his inaugural address, the President referenced the LBGT community’s fight for rights equality. “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law,” he said, “for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”
Earlier this month, the Obama administration also filed a brief against the Defense of Marriage act, declaring it unconstitutional. The Supreme Court will hear the Prop. 8 case beginning March 26.
