Gay Marriage

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law, and in 2008, California voters passed Proposition 8, banning gay marriage in the state. But 2013 could be the year the bans become history and gay marriage becomes legal across the US. That's up to the Supreme Court, which hears arguments this week on both laws. Oral arguments on Prop. 8 begin Tuesday, while Wednesday is all about DOMA. A decision likely won't come until July, so until then, let's look into what might impact the court's ruling.

First, What's at Stake
If the court declares DOMA unconstitutional, the federal government would have to recognize same-sex couples legally married in different states and grant them benefits like Social Security. As for Prop. 8, if the Supreme Court rules California's ban is unconstitutional, then gay-marriage bans in every state could be overturned, making gay marriage legal across the US.

Various Outcomes Are Possible
While the court might establish a nationwide constitutional right to gay marriage in the Prop. 8 case, it also could rule in a way that limits its decision to California only. For example, the court could rule that the parties in the case lack "standing" to be in front of the Supreme Court, and thus that it does not have jurisdiction to rule. Without granting a constitutional right to same-sex marriage across the country, a narrower ruling could leave intact lower-court decisions, meaning that California would have to grant gay marriage and that Section 3 of DOMA, which mandates the nonrecognition of same-sex marriages for all federal purposes, would be thrown out.

Keep reading to find out which justice could decide the case.

Hillary Clinton has come out in support of gay marriage today, in a video released on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights group. The former secretary of state is following up on her noteworthy 2011 speech on gay rights to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, and this time she went a step further, calling for marriage equality. In the six-minute video, Hillary says her time as secretary of state made her challenge her previous views. She continues, "LGBT Americans are our colleagues, our teachers, our soldiers, our friends, our loved ones. And they are full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship. That includes marriage." Hillary explains she supports gay marriage "personally, and as matter of policy and law." This campaign-style video hints that Hillary isn't going away anytime soon. Is it 2016 yet?

Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio announced today that he now supports gay marriage, after his gay son brought about a change of heart. Portman admitted that as a politician, he took a position against gay marriage due to his faith tradition, until his son came out as gay. He explained: "My son came to Jane, my wife, and I and, and told us that he was gay and that it was not a choice, and that's just part of who he is and he'd been that way for as long as he could remember." Despite his previous views, Portman embraced his son's sexuality, and he is now the only GOP senator who supports gay marriage. Watch the senator explain his awakening now.

Gay marriage is a constitutional right — according to 75 top Republicans who submitted a brief to the Supreme Court this week. Next month, the court will hear arguments for and against California's gay marriage ban (Proposition 8) and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. These Republicans, including former governors like Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, former Bush advisers, and past and current members of Congress, would like the court to rule against those bans, effectively making gay marriage legal in all 50 states.

Not all Republicans are on board, including House Speaker John Boehner, who is expected to spend millions in support of the Defense of Marriage Act. But the brief is meant to appeal to conservatives, nonetheless. It cites Citizens United, which eased campaign finance restrictions, and District of Columbia v. Heller, which threw out DC's handgun ban, as legal precedent in support of gay marriage. Such arguments could appeal to conservative justices who back those prior decisions.

A majority of Americans — including former First Lady Laura Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney — now support equal marriage rights, but the power to make them legal rests with the nine Supreme Court justices. A decision is expected this Summer. This brief could convince the justices that backing gay marriage puts them on the right side of history and the law.

"When couples are committed, they ought to have, I think, the same sort of rights that everyone has," Laura Bush says in a new ad supporting gay marriage. The former first lady, along with fellow Republicans Dick Cheney and Colin Powell, as well as President Barack Obama, are featured in the ad to show that a majority of Americans now support gay marriage rights. But the prominent conservatives, who happen to be more liberal on social issues, did not participate willingly in the ad, which uses statements they've made during cable news or other appearances.

Laura Bush has asked the Respect For Marriage Coalition to remove the clip. Her spokesperson said Laura Bush "did not approve of her inclusion in this advertisement, nor is she associated with the group that made the ad in any way." While the ad uses her quote in support of equal rights for gays in context, it seems the first lady is not ready to be a public advocate for the cause. Watch the ad and tell us: do you think she has a right to protest?

We're happy to present this article from our partner site Yahoo! Shine:

Sophia Bailey-Klugh had already written to President Barack Obama once before, to invite him to dinner at her house. He didn't RSVP, so when the 10-year-old with two dads decided to send him a note thanking him for his support of gay marriage, she wasn't expecting a reply.

Related: North Carolina's Take on Gay Marriage Could Also Affect Straight Couples

"Dear Barack Obama," she wrote. "It's Sophia Bailey Klugh, your friend who invited you to dinner. You don't remember okay that's fine. But I just wanted to tell you that I am so glad you agree that two men can love each other, because I have two dads and they love each other, but at school kids think that it's gross and weird."

Learn more about this heartwarming story after the jump.

Every four years, America's political parties update their official party platforms to reflect official policy views. Yesterday, news broke that Democratic officials will add support of same-sex marriage to the party's platform during the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina (a state that just voted to constitutionally ban it) this September. The Democrats' shift mirrors that of President Obama, who officially lent his support to gay marriage a few months ago. The president's party is surely hoping it mirrors a shift in the voting public's attitudes, too.

According to Democratic officials, adding support for equal marriage rights was a no-brainer and there was no arguing at a platform-drafting meeting that went down last weekend. While the Democrats' 2008 platform did oppose the Defense of Marriage Act, it did not go as far to endorse gay marriage, as then-nominee Barack Obama opposed it in favor of civil unions.

As for the Republican party's platform, following President Obama's statement of support, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said his party has no plans to add support for gay marriage to the GOP platform. He said, "While President Obama has played politics on this issue, the Republican party and our presumptive nominee Mitt Romney have been clear. We support maintaining marriage between one man and one woman and would oppose any attempts to change that." Just keep reading to find out what the current RNC platform says.