Washington (CNN) -- The Obama administration will formally express its support for same-sex marriage in California.
The administration said
in a legal brief on Thursday that gay and lesbian couples in the state
have the same "equal protection" rights to wed and that voters there
were wrong to ban it, according to an administration official.
An appeal in the
so-called Proposition 8 case will be formally filed later on Thursday
with the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear the issue in March.
That case and another
appeal over the federal Defense of Marriage Act will produce blockbuster
rulings from the justices in coming months.
Gay rights groups had
privately urged Obama and his top aides to go beyond his previous
personal rhetoric in support of the right and come down "on the side of
history" in this legal fight.
Sources told CNN that Obama made the final decision over whether to file a brief and what to say.
Same-sex marriage could
be a defining moment in Obama's presidency, similar to the political
impact last year when the Supreme Court upheld the health care reform
law he spearheaded.
He must decide how much
political capital to expend in coming months when expressing his views
and those of the executive branch.
Obama has already faced
strong opposition on the issue from many Republican state and
congressional lawmakers, as well as social conservatives.
The justices will hear oral arguments in the Proposition 8 case March 26, with a ruling due by the last week of June.
The separate case over
the Defense of Marriage Act involves a 1996 law that says for federal
purposes, marriage is defined as only between one man and one woman.
That means federal tax, Social Security, pension, and bankruptcy
benefits, and family medical leave protections-- do not apply to gay and
lesbian couples.
That case will be argued March 27.
But it is the Proposition 8 case where the high court is being asked to establish the constitutional "equal protection" right.
The administration is
not a party in the California appeal and not required to weigh in, but
it decided to file an amicus or "friend of the court" brief. The key
question for Obama was whether he would stop short of a vigorous
endorsement of the constitutional right.
It is rare for a
president to be personally involved in the legal and political
considerations in a high court appeal, and sources say he spent a good
deal of time reading up on the issue and articulating his views
privately.
Much of the legal
reasoning in any government brief would reflect in large part his
personal thinking, gained from his years as a former constitutional law
professor.
There are about approximately 120,000 legally married same-sex couples in the United States.
Dozens of advocacy
groups on both sides of the issue have bombarded the high court with
briefs, including a coalition of national Republicans, business, faith,
and military leaders supporting same-sex marriage.
Among the prominent
conservative names lending their view: former Utah governor and
presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Hewlitt-Packard chief executive and
former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, U.S. Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), and actor Clint Eastwood.
"As a Republican, I
believe in protecting individual freedoms and that everyone, including
gay and lesbian Americans, has a constitutional right to be treated
equally under the law," said former Rep. Jim Kolbe.
The president has had an
evolving position on gay rights, once supporting only civil unions. But
in his inaugural address last month, he raised expectations, and
perhaps signaled his impending legal views, when offering sweeping
rhetoric.
"Our journey is not
complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone 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."
Last November, voters in
three states-- Maryland, Washington, and Maine-- approved same-sex
marriage, adding to the six states and the District of Columbia that
already have done so.
As more states legalize
same-sex marriage, one of the key questions the justices may be forced
to address is whether a national consensus now exists supporting the
idea of expanding an "equal protection" right of marriage to homosexuals
Many other states,
including New Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, Rhode Island and Hawaii, have
legalized domestic partnerships and civil unions -- a step designed in
most cases to provide the same rights of marriage under state law.
But other states have
passed laws or state constitutional amendments banning such marriages.
California's 2008 Proposition 8 referendum revoked the right after
lawmakers and the state courts previously allowed it.
In February, a federal
appeals court in San Francisco ruled the measure unconstitutional. In
its split decision, the panel found that Proposition 8 "works a
meaningful harm to gays and lesbians" by denying their right to civil
marriage.
The justices here have discretion to rule narrowly or broadly on the aspects of the legal and procedural questions raised.
