Obama administration files brief in top court backing gay marriage

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The administration of President Barack Obama on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that states cannot ban gay marriage. The Justice Department filed a friend-of-the-court brief in four cases in which the court is due to hear oral arguments on April 28. "These facially discriminatory laws impose concrete harms on same-sex couples and send the inescapable message that same-sex couples and their children are second-class families, unworthy of the recognition and benefits that opposite-sex couples take for granted," Solicitor General Donald Verrilli wrote in the brief. Although the administration has been supportive of gay marriage, the brief marks the first time it has explicitly asked the high court to rule that bans violate the U.S. Constitution.

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