Charles Cooper, the lawyer who defended
California's now-ended gay marriage ban before the Supreme Court,
says his views on gay marriage are evolving.
In the forthcoming book Forcing the
Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality, journalist Jo
Becker writes that Cooper learned that his stepdaughter Ashley is gay
as the lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 reached the appellate stage.
He is now in the process of helping her plan her June wedding in
Massachusetts, the first state to legalize such unions.
“My views evolve on issues of this
kind the same way as other people's do, and how I view this down the
road may not be the way I view it now, or how I viewed it ten years
ago,” he told Becker.
In a
statement to the AP, Cooper said he was looking forward to
attending his daughter's wedding.
“My daughter Ashley's path in life
has led her to happiness with a lovely young woman named Casey, and
our family and Casey's family are looking forward to celebrating
their marriage in just a few weeks,” Cooper said.