u.s. solicitor general donald will have ten minutes representing the president s opposition to the same-sex marriage ban. and supporters of prop 8 will be represented by charles cooper. one of the attorneys who argued the case in san francisco s federal court. cooper will have 30 minutes and will likely face questions on whether prop 8 supporters have legal standing in this case since california s attorney general won t defend the law. when we talk about fundamental rights as it relates to the constitution, we are talking about those rights that we as a nation designated as being some of the most sacred of all the rights we can have. reporter: the state attorney general adds that more than a dozen times the supreme court has described marriage as a fundamental right. supporters of the marriage ban say california voters have already made the call. we should not allow the federal judiciary to destroy the vote of the people, especially on something as old and good as marriage.
should be overturned. u.s. solicitor jonathan varelli will have ten minutes representing the president s opposition to the same-sex maerng ban. and supporters of prop 8 will be represented by charles cooper. one of the attorneys who argued the case in san francisco s federal court. cooper will have 30 minutes and will likely face questions on whether prop 8 supporters have legal standing in this case since california s attorney general won t defend the law. when we talk about fundamental rights as it relates to the constitution, we are talking about those rights that we as a nation designated as being some of the most sacred of all the rights we can have. reporter: the state attorney general adds that more than a dozen times the supreme court has described marriage as a fundamental right. supporters of the marriage ban say california voters have already made the call. we should not allow the federal judiciary to destroy the vote of the people, especially on something as old and g
in 2008, six months after the california supreme court endorsed same-sex marriage, voters passed a ballot measure adding a marriage ban to the state s constitution. the state gave barack obama 61% of the vote and passed prop 8 with 52% of the vote. crowds chanted today in the streets of los angeles as thousands did last night angry at the success of proposition 8. in 2009, a legal odd couple democrat david boise and republican ted olson best known for being on opposite sides in bush v. gore challenged proposition 8 in court. prop 8 was struck down in the lower courts. today, the high court will consider whether the marriage ban is unconstitutional and discrimination and more broadly whether any state can block it. the two gay california couples who are plaintiffs in today s case made a visit monday to the national archives to see the constitution and spoke again just moments ago.
as second class citizens and same no, you are not married. point here beinging that striking down doma would be massively transformational. short of the kind of constitutional moment that may come. hundreds of thousands much people in the country that are hurt right now and married. dean is putting his finger a common thread for both cases. in many is expect, both of these cases are not so much about marriage as they are about affirming human dignity and equality. and you are speaking right to anthony kennedy at this moment, aren t you? some of the people that are most affected when you strike down marriage ban and affirm equality of everyone in a particular state, for example, are the kids. gay kids. who may have no desire to more write. not even thinking about relationships at that point but who are being told by their families, by their churches and kids in their schools, that there something wrong with them. that they can never aspire to the same kind of family as eve
to repeal d.o.m.a. d.o.m.a. is before the supreme court next week, as is proposition 8, the marriage ban in cal cam. we ll see what the court does on those two. i m opt michtic on both. at the end of the day, we don t decide the fundamental rights of a minority by the a vote of the people or the whims of public opinion polls. that s with a our judiciary is there for. as we re talking about the new language that you re hearing from chairman raince priebus and the report that came out from the republican party, i think that is significant movement. what the next important step is going to be, to see how that s followed up with actual policy actions. and there are a number of things, aside from repealing d.o.m.a., that the congress should and could do, one would be passing an employment nondiscrimination act. in this country, in more than half the states, can you fire someone for being lgbt. and congress has a responsibility there and they should act and i think this is a perfect opening