White House has no ‘specific reaction’ to gay marriage punt

The White House on Monday declined to weigh in on the Supreme Court’s decision not to take up any of seven same-sex marriage appeals, a move that effectively upholds the reversal of same-sex marriage bans in Indiana, Utah, Virginia, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

The decision is expected to also overturn gay marriage bans in six other states located within the same judicial circuits: North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming.

{mosads}White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the administration had no “specific reaction to their decision not to grant review in these cases.”

President Obama has “previously expressed his own personal view that it’s wrong to prevent same-sex couples who are in loving committed relationships and want to marry from doing so,” Earnest said, noting that a “growing majority” of Americans supported same-sex marriage.

“But in terms of the Supreme Court’s specific decision not to grant a writ of certiorari in these cases, I don’t have a specific reaction,” Earnest said.

The reaction from the White House was muted compared with its reaction in June of last year, when the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act preventing the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. At the time, Obama called both the plaintiff in the case and Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign.

“The president noted that the laws of our land are catching up to the fundamental truth that millions of Americans have come to accept — we are all more free when all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love,” former press secretary Jay Carney said at the time.

The Supreme Court’s latest decision will mean that gay couples should be able to soon marry in 30 states, and that 60 percent of the population will live in areas where same-sex marriages are allowed.

Asked if the White House was concerned that 20 states continued to ban the practice, Earnest noted Obama’s support for gay marriage and said there was “a legal process that is running its course.”

“At some point, this may end up at the Supreme Court,” Earnest said, suggesting that such a decision could allow for a more sweeping, nationwide ruling.