On Marriage, LGBT Shouldn’t Look For Help From Feds

Government doesn’t have a record for taking public positions on court's equality cases

You know how interracial marriage and gay sex was illegal in some states until the Supreme Court ruled against bans on them? Yeah, well, you might be surprised to know that the federal government took no position when those cases came to the court. That fact is consistent with the rhetorical dance President Barack Obama has done on the issue of states rights. In Obama’s public endorsement of same sex marriage last year, he was quite vague on whether he’d ask his solicitor general to take a position on the upcoming case against California’s ban on same-sex marriage. One of the lawyer’s challenging Prop 8 at SCOTUS said Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. was noncommittal after a meeting last month about the government’s stance on the case. Verrilli is expected to meet with defenders of the gay marriage ban in a few days. Court arguments on the case will be heard on March 26. So, for those wanting the government to sink some teeth into the president’s support of marriage equality, speak now or forever hold your peace. (New York Times)

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