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300 Republicans petition U.S. Supreme Court to support gay marriage

By JC Finley
Same-sex marriage supporters rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as the Court hears arguments on same-sex marriage, in Washington, D.C. on March 26, 2013. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
Same-sex marriage supporters rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as the Court hears arguments on same-sex marriage, in Washington, D.C. on March 26, 2013. UPI/Kevin Dietsch | License Photo

WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) -- An amicus brief petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to support same-sex marriage was filed Thursday by 300 Republicans.

The brief was filed as the Supreme Court prepares to review four cases that concern the constitutionality of state bans on same-sex marriage.

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Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman filed the brief along with an array of Republican political operatives that includes 23 current and former Republican members of Congress and seven current and former governors.

Some of the signatories were admittedly not previously in favor of same-sex marriage but all had concluded "there is no legitimate, fact-based reason for denying same-sex couples the same recognition in law that is available to opposite-sex couples."

"There's been an increase since the last time in public support for marriage equality across all ideological, racial, and political groups," Mehlman told Time.

The petitioners, known as amici or friends of the court, assert in their filing that the Fourteenth Amendment, that "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States," requires states to recognize and protect same-sex marriage. States, the brief maintains, cannot deny "same-sex couples the legal rights and responsibilities that flow from the institution of civil marriage."

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When government influences "individual freedom in matters of family and child-rearing, it should promote family-supportive values like responsibility, fidelity, commitment and stability," the Republican signatories added. "Yet these bans, by denying each member of an entire class of American citizens the right to marry the person he or she loves, discourage those important family values. They discourage responsibility, fidelity and commitment."

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the four related cases on April 28.

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