President Obama needs to cite the Fourteenth Amendment whenever marriage equality is discussed.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv
Amendment XIV
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws...
Thanks to the delightful Park Overall for bringing it up:
Corker challenger Park Overall agrees with Obama on same-sex marriage
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/may/10/corker-challenger-park-overall-agrees-obama-same-s/?breakingnews
NASHVILLE — Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Park Overall said today she’s fully in support of President Barack Obama’s statement in support of same-sex marriage.
“The 14th Amendment calls for equal rights under the law. I can’t imagine how the fear of same-sex couples has trumped the Constitution for this long,” Overall, an environmental advocate and actress, said in a statement. “As for President Obama saying he’s for gay marriage, all I can say is, hallelujah and what took so long?”
Overall is running in the August Democratic primary in hopes of challenging U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in November.
For “committed, loving couples to be denied the rights of heterosexual couples is prejudicial,” she said. “I am thrilled that my president has taken this highly evolved stances and continues to push the rock uphill. May we continue to strive for the rights of all men and women.”...
Marriage equality is now
his issue, and will be for the forseeable future. He needs to claim the the moral high ground and defend it from all comers.