As lawyers prepare to argue Hollingsworth v. Perry before the Supreme Court next month, dozens of Republican leaders have joined an amicus brief supporting marriage equality and the opposing the Defense of Marriage Act.
The brief, being filed this week, argues that marriage equality is a conservative value that embraces the idea of “limited government and maximizing individual freedom.”
By contrast, the brief, shared with The New York Times by its drafters, cites past Supreme Court rulings dear to conservatives, including the Citizens United decision lifting restrictions on campaign financing, and a Washington, D.C., Second Amendment case that overturned a law barring handgun ownership.
The list of signatories includes Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Richard Hanna (R-NY), former NSA director Stephen J. Hadley, former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Justice Department appointee James B. Comey, Reagan-era budget director David A. Stockman, California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman (who supported Proposition 8 when she ran), ex-New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman, and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who affirmed his support for marriage equality in an op-ed last week.
It take a little of the punch away that many of these allies are no longer in their positions of power, but analysts say their support could influence the Supreme Court’s more conservative jurists
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“As opposition to the freedom to marry becomes increasingly isolated and the exclusion from marriage increasingly indefensible, Americans all across the political spectrum are saying it’s time to end marriage discrimination, do right by families, and get our country on the right side of history,” said Freedom to Marry president Evan Wolfson.
1EqualityUSA
The Republicans rode this political Tedious Right horse until it died between their knees and now, they are switching stories. I will NEVER forget how they treated the LGBT community. Thanks for your extremely belated support of equality. This does not, however, erase what you did to us when you were feeling the power. Republicans misuse power. Political expedience is unbecoming. John Boehner, John McCain, Numbskull Palin, Princeton’s Robert P. George, New Hampshire’s Nancy “wiggling” Elliott, Geo. W. Bush, Laura Bush, and all the rest, here on Gallgher’s Isle… all don’t believe that equality is a conservative value and it will forever be on the books for history to see. I hate Republicans with a passion for what they’ve done to us.
2eo
@1EqualityUSA: However as I’ve said before, use it as a wedge to crack the right once and for all, they’re literally falling into secs and groups. Give it another 8 months or so of a uniter attack on the GOP and then casually switch to attacking individual spliter groups.
The others will them be so obsessed with not wanting to be caught in the splinter group that any measures to equalise society will go through with ease. Why do you think a tory government is doing what it is socially in Britain?
We’ve won, and we will keep on winning.
Joetx
@1EqualityUSA: Well stated!
1EqualityUSA
2eo, I’m listening. I heard your words on another article and it resonated. When the Republicans become the minority party, with whom will they collude to beat the Democrats?
Isn’t that how they would have to win. It’s sort of like strap-the-family-dog-to-the-roof-of-the-car-until-he-blows-diarrhea-and-vomits-Romney getting a group of friends together to pin down that gay teen, in order to cut off his hair. The Republicans will need to join other undesirables in order to meet their goals. KKK? Aryan race? Biblically illiterate bigots cloaking their detestable hate in badly interpreted Scripture? Politically driven Catholics? Mormon run Boy Scouts of America? With whom will the minority party (irrelevant Republicans) team, in order to fulfill their goals?
1EqualityUSA
The Republicans will sabotage our Country’s finances and then point and say, “Hey, look what happened when a Democrat was at the helm.” They must think we just fell off of the turnip truck. Anti-American Republicans sabotage our Country in order to displace their counterparts. I’ll never forgive this party. It’s dark.
jwrappaport
@1EqualityUSA: Well spoke. I echo every word.
2eo
Ah, but America is unique in the western world in that it is an actual bubbling pot of nationalities. Forcing them to accept a coalition with splinter factions forces even more division. If say a group lead by a top GOP mormon split and partnered with a group similar to the Tea-Party.
This isolates black conservatives, coupled with good journalism to highlight how and why they are ONLY a threat to black conservatives and ethnic minorities is the way forward.
I keep using the UK example, but it’s the only one I have first hand experience of, the BNP hate jews, absolutely hate them, but there was a vocal faction in the BNP that wanted jewish members, because in their dimunitive minds only brown people are terrorists and jews are rich, so casually pushing those people via Stormfront, a dozen agent provocateurs [myself and others] pushed the issue and got into the heads of senior BNP and the faction groups and forced a confrontation.
The EDL split away from the BNP taking over half the membership with it, but no good politicians and they allowed jewish members and they’ve essentially been at war with each other since 2010. Now the people who supported the BNP won’t have anything to do with them anymore and the EDL don’t have anyone clever enough to at least look like they represent the common gutter rac1st neanderthal.
It’s a massive win win, and something I’m really proud of being a part of.
Our respective countries are awesome, and I hate anyone and anything that wants to harm them, and I’ll do whatever I can to make the world fairer, if that involves manipulating stupid people, I’ll sure be sleeping easy tonight.