Over 100 Republicans And Over 200 Companies Sign Pro-Gay Marriage Brief Ahead Of SCOTUS Case

Josh FeldmanFeb 28th, 2013, 8:33 pm

The Obama administration earlier today filed a brief to the Supreme Court in favor of striking down the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, but a potentially bigger gay marriage case is also going before the Supreme Court this term. The case concerns the Defense of Marriage Act. The Obama administration has gone on record refusing to defend DOMA, and this week momentum for striking down the law is building, with one brief being filed and co-signed by over 100 Republican leaders and politicians, and another brief field by a staggering number of businesses.

This week over two dozen Republicans signed their names to a brief organized by former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. The brief was filed to the Supreme Court today, and in it are the signatures of over 100 Republicans, including recent signers Beth Meyers, who was a senior advisor to Mitt Romney‘s 2012 presidential campaign, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economic advisor to John McCain‘s 2008 campaign. There are also a number of Republican and conservative politicians and pundits who put their names on the brief.

The coalition includes 12 current and former members of Congress, including New York’s Richard Hanna, California’s Mary Bono Mack, and Florida’s Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; 7 former governors, including Utah’s Jon Huntsman, New Mexico’s Gary Johnson, and Massachusetts’s William Weld; and 7 current state legislators…

[S]trategists and media figures such as Alex Castellanos, Margaret Hoover…, Nicolle Wallace, Steve Schmidt, S.E. Cupp, Ana Navarro, and The Daily Beast’s own David Frum and Mark McKinnon. Demographic of one Clint Eastwood even decided to sign on.

Another brief was filed on behalf of 200+ companies and other institutions. And aside from the whole “people deserve equality” thing, many of the businesses signed on are arguing that discriminatory laws require businesses treat certain employees differently from others, and “DOMA thus impairs employer/employee relations and other business interests.”

You can read the brief here [PDF], but if you don’t have time, here is a brief list of institutions officially backing gay marriage.