Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring
has filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in support of
plaintiffs challenging gay marriage bans in four states.
The nation's highest court will hear
oral arguments in the case on April 28, with a ruling expected in
June.
“'The Constitution created a
government dedicated to equal justice under law.' That principle is
not new,” Herring wrote in the 56-page
brief. “What is new is this generation's recognition
that that principle cannot be reconciled with governmental
discrimination against gay people. Selecting a life-partner of the
same gender is a 'choice [] the Constitution protects.' So too, the
principle of equal justice under law prohibits States from denying to
gay couples and their children 'the most important relation in
life.'”
In comments to WAMU,
Herring said that the court should not take a narrow view on the
issue.
“What we are talking about here isn't
just the right to same-sex marriage. It's the fundamental right to
marriage,” he said.
Herring, a Democrat, also sided with
two gay couples who successfully challenged Virginia's ban.