David Boies believes the time is right
for the Supreme Court to consider gay marriage.
The high court on Friday announced it
would hear two cases related to marriage equality: a case challenging
the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and another challenging
Proposition 8, California's 2008 voter-approved constitutional
amendment banning gay nuptials.
(Related: Supreme
Court to hear gay marriage-related Prop 8, DOMA cases.)
Boies and Ted Olson are representing
two gay couples in their fight to marry in California.
Appearing on CNN, Boies was asked
whether the legal argument had gotten ahead of public sentiment.
“Every civil rights struggle there
have been people who have said, 'You're moving too fast. Country is
not ready for it,'” he said. “How many people in 1954 were
saying, 'Country's not ready for desegregation? Brown against
Board of Education is just too soon.'”
When the interviewer asked why go
before this conservative court, Boies brushed aside the notion that
only Liberals would support marriage rights for gay couples.
“The idea that civil rights and human
rights is exclusively a Liberal preserve, I just think is flat
wrong,” he answered. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)