The Obama administration may intervene in the Supreme Court’s consideration of California’s gay marriage ban by filing a friend of the court brief outlining its position in support of gay marriage.
President Obama has repeated his belief that gay and lesbian couples “should be treated like anyone else under the law,” both in his Inaugural address in January, and in a Google+ hangout last week, when he said gay and lesbian couples should receive equal treatment under immigration law.
“An administration official said Obama — a former constitutional law professor — was not foreshadowing any legal action in his remarks and was simply restating his personal belief in the right of gays and lesbians to marry, though the official said the administration was considering filing a brief,” according to the Associated Press.
The friend of the court brief would actually be filed by the Justice Department, but President Obama will likely make the ultimate decision about whether or not to file, AP says.
Gay marriage advocates are calling on Obama to step in, but so far the president has not said publicly whether he will.
“I have to make sure that I’m not interjecting myself too much into this process, particularly when we’re not a party to the case,” he said Wednesday in an interview with San Francisco’s KGO-TV.
The administration has one week to file the brief.
