Obama: Gay Marriage Constitutional Right

President Obama believes that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. “Ultimately, I think the Equal Protection Clause does guarantee same-sex marriage in all 50 states,” he said in an interview published Monday in The New Yorker. While Obama said he believes states are legally required under the Constitution to allow same-sex marriages, his administration has not yet made that case before the Supreme Court. Also in the interview, Obama spoke favorably about the Supreme Court’s recent decision not to interfere with lower court rulings on gay marriage. “In some ways, the decision that was just handed down to not do anything about what states are doing on same-sex marriage may end up being as consequential—from my perspective, a positive sense—as anything that’s been done,” he said. “Given the direction of society, for the court to have allowed the process to play out the way it has may make the shift less controversial and more lasting.”