A big missed opportunity for marriage equality in California

Turns out that Obama wrote a letter in June, 2008, stating his opposition to Proposition 8 and congratulating all of the gays and lesbians in San Francisco who had married. But the No on 8 folks never used the letter to sway public opinion. An excerpt:

As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law.That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. ...

And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states. ...

Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks.

More here.

THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT heard arguments on Proposition 8 yesterday. It doesn't appear likely that the Court will overturn this state constitutional amendment which bans same-sex marriage even though it was passed by voters only a few months after it had declared that the existing ban was unconstitutional. More analysis of yesterday's hearing here.