Prop 8: Republican Support Crucial For Killing California Gay Marriage Ban

Impact

There were exciting headlines for gay marriage this week as a brief, supported both by major Democrats and Republican politicians, was released urging the Supreme Court that Proposition 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 26 with their final decision expected in June. Prop 8, which passed in California in 2008, made marriage between same-sex couples illegal in the notoriously liberal state and will now influence the entire country’s marriage rights. The brief claims that any law attempting a ban on same-sex couples singles out a section of American citizens, historically due to discrimination, making it subject for unequal treatment. This therefore violates the Fourteenth Amendment, rendering the proposition unconstitutional and unlawful. This important brief from the Obama administration is vital, though Obama may have less influence on the Supreme Court’s rulingthan the surprising amount of Republican signatures on said brief.