A Huge Round-Up Of Supreme Court Marriage Equality Updates, Links, Quotes, And Profiles

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The L.A. Times profiles Ted Olson: "The marriage case, the 60th case that he will have argued before the nation's highest court, has been a transformative experience, he says. He speaks with passion, and sometimes a tear, about the gay men and women, including Republicans, who reach out to thank him."

Chris Johnson talks to folks in line at the Supreme Court. This photo is from the Washington Post's front page.

Several of those waiting in line are just paid placeholders: "The second and third people in line on Saturday seemed indifferent about the cases and declined to give their names or say whether they were being paid to be there. One of them said it was his third time in line for a Supreme Court hearing, but he could not remember the other cases. He said he had been in line since Thursday; seat assignments are to be given out on Tuesday morning."

Roe v. Wade looms over gay marriage cases: "Ginsburg has suggested that the Supreme Court in 1973 should have struck down only the restrictive Texas abortion law before it and left broader questions for another day. The analogous approach four decades later would be to strike down California’s ban on same-sex marriage but leave in place prohibitions in about 40 other states."

Chris Geidner profiles Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson and blogger Andrew Sullivan.

A NYT profile on National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown: "Mr. Brown grew up in Whittier, Calif., a town with a Quaker background on the border of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the son of an accountant and a homemaker who split when he was 13. Maggie Gallagher, his predecessor as the marriage organization’s president and the author of a book about the dangers of divorce, said that Mr. Brown 'shares a lot of characteristics of children of divorce” who as adults make “a really firm commitment to do something different for their children.'"

How marriage equality could win in the worst possible way.

Focus on the Family President Jim Daly talks to NPR, claiming gay marriage is "outside of God's design".

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone spouts out on same-sex marriage: "Our bodies have meaning. The conjugal union of a man and a woman is not a factory to produce babies; marriage seeks to create a total community of love, a "one flesh" union of mind, heart and body that includes a willingness to care for any children their bodily union makes together…Treating same-sex relationships as marriage is the final severing by government of the natural link between marriage and the great task of bringing together male and female to make and raise the next generation together in love."

NOM is pushing an incredibly hostile document to its supporters.

Reuters: Gay marriage cases to define Supreme Court legacy. "It has been a decade since the court last took up a gay-rights case. Four new justices have joined the bench since then, including Chief Justice John Roberts, 58, who last year cast the deciding vote to uphold the Obama administration's healthcare law."

How did Vermont's "civil" war fuel the gay marriage movement? "It seemed radical at the time, and tore the state apart so wretchedly and publicly that historians were hard-pressed to come up with a parallel. Imagine the recent Wisconsin union wars, only injected with sex and religion. But the Legislature in Montpelier approved An Act Relating to Civil Unions, and Dean quietly signed it later that spring, making it the first law in the nation to extend marriage-like rights of any kind to gay and lesbian couples."

The AP interviews Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, plaintiffs in the Prop. 8 case: "They will get married quickly, in a small, private ceremony. 'We did the big celebration a long time ago,' Perry said. 'I hope this will be something a lot bigger than the two of us.'"

What the Supreme Court's ruling might mean for Colorado's new civil union law: "…the high court judges could not only declare California's Prop 8 unconstitutional, they could rule that states, like Colorado and eight others, that give gay people some relationship distinction without calling it 'marriage' is unfair."

And here's what we covered over the weekend:

Our legal expert ARI EZRA WALDMAN penned a few more SUPREME COURT
PREVIEW columns for you including one on STANDING in the DOMA case and SCRUTINY in DOMA and Prop 8..

California Attorney General Kamala Harris said "50,000 children in California are asking, 'why can't my parents be married too?' …