Congressman David Cicilline, D-R.I.,, one of the first openly-gay members of Congress told Jansing & Co., "The American people are way ahead of the judiciary, they have moved beyond this, people have embraced marriage equality...the Supreme Court has the responsibility to catch up to that."
“The American people are way ahead of the judiciary… people have embraced marriage equality… the Supreme Court has the responsibility to catch up to that,” Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., told Jansing & Co. Monday. Cicilline is one of the first openly-gay members of Congress.
A pair of potentially groundbreaking cases on same-sex marriage go before the Supreme Court this week. On Tuesday, justices will hear arguments on whether to overturn California’s voter-approved Proposition Eight, which bans same-sex marriage. And on Wednesday, the high court will hear arguments on whether to uphold the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex couples.
The Supreme Court drama comes as the public and political mood is shifting. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) became the second U.S. senator in recent weeks to announce support for same-sex marriage. And a new poll shows a majority of Americans, 58 percent, say same-sex marriage should be legal.
“This is not partisan. Equality is not partisan,” Aisha Moodie-Mills, adviser on LGBT policy and racial justice with the Center for American Progress, said. “We know that this is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” she told Jansing & Co.
Jimmy LaSalvia, Co-founder and Executive Director of GOProud, believes the country has reached a tipping point. “Even the polls show that a majority of young conservatives support same-sex marriage,” he said. “There’s room in the Republican party for a variety of views on the issue where that wasn’t the case not that long ago.”
