Marriage Equality Takes One More Step Towards Inevitability, Gaining Support From 80 Prominent Republicans

In the past year, marriage equality for same-sex couples has gained the support of the President of the United States. It has won the popular vote when put on the ballot. This movement for social justice has gone from a burgeoning political battle to a seemingly inevitable advancement in equal rights. Now, it takes one more step in the right direction with 80 prominent Republicans signing a friend of the court briefing supporting marriage rights for same-sex couples.

In advance of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments in the fight against California’s Proposition 8, Republicans from all over the country have stepped up in support of marriage equality. Going against their party’s stated platform, going against previous campaign platforms, these politicians all seem to realize that they want to be on the right side of history. A few of the notable signatures on the court brief:

Former governors Jon Huntsman of Utah, Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and William Weld of Massachusetts; former White House chief of staff Ken Mehlman and former national security adviser Stephen Hadley; and retired members of Congress, such as Mary Bono Mack of California and Deborah Pryce of Ohio.

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman is also on record as backing the legal brief, which is a change of her previous position. When she ran unsuccessfully for California governor in 2010, Whitman supported Proposition 8. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., is the only active member of the House currently listed as supporting the brief.

The brief was organized by the American Foundation for Equal Rights. It’s the group that is challenging California’s gay marriage ban and it’s headed by unlikely partners Ted Olson, a former solicitor general for President Bush, and David Boies, the liberal lawyer who represented Vice President Al Gore in the Florida recount. The two put their differences aside and worked together, taking their opposition to Prop 8 all the way to the Supreme Court.

This briefing, showing a sign of crumbling conservative opposition, moves marriage equality one small step closer to a reality in this country. And as a parent, I have to admit that it’s pretty amazing. I can already picture my young daughter growing up in a world where the ability to marry the person you love is a foregone conclusion. I can imagine her listening to stories of same-sex couples being discriminated against and saying, “That’s insane, Mom!” It’s the same reaction my generation has to the idea that biracial couples shouldn’t be allowed to marry.

(Photo: Lindsay Douglas/Shutterstock)