Obama administration will file brief in Prop 8 case

President Obama announcing support for marriage equality in an ABC News interview, May 2012. President Obama's Justice Department will file an amicus brief Thursday, urging the Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriage in California, overturning the state's Prop 8. The deadline for filing is today at midnight, with the case slated to be heard next month.

After first suggesting it would not get involved, the Obama administration will file a friend-of-the-court brief late today in support of the two gay couples who launched the fight over the issue four years ago, the officials said. Today is the last day for filing briefs in support of the couples' position.

The administration last year signaled it might stay on the sidelines. In May, when President Obama first said that "same-sex couples should be able to get married," he added that it was not a matter for the federal government.

In his inaugural address, however, Obama signalled this potential change, with this line: "Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." Last week, the administration filed a brief on the Defense of Marriage Act, declaring it unconstitutional.

President Obama's evolution on marriage equality is now, very happily, complete.