Obama urges court to reinstate gay marriage in Calif.

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration declared Thursday that gay marriage can be a right that deserves constitutional protection, supercharging a Supreme Court battle that started with California voters and is now shooting for the history books.

Shedding its earlier caution, the administration forcefully asserted in a key legal brief that the Constitution's equal protection guarantees extend to same-sex couples seeking a California marriage license. The declaration was both voluntary, because the administration wasn't required to take a position on the state's Proposition 8, and emphatic.

"Proposition 8, by depriving same-sex couples of the right to marry, denies them the dignity, respect and stature accorded similarly situated opposite-sex couples under state law," Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. wrote.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins denounced the administration's move as a "brazen" flip-flop caused by pressure from "supporters of marriage redefinition."

The 33-page brief signed by Verrilli thrusts the administration into the potentially landmark gay marriage case to be heard by the court on March 26. It potentially puts the administration on the opposite side of 37 states that expressly prohibit same-sex marriage through either a statute or a provision in the state's constitution.

Subtly, though, the administration indicates that the Supreme Court can focus on the "particular circumstances" found in California and seven other states that, likewise, grant domestic partnership rights, but not full marriage benefits.

California voters in 2008 approved a ballot measure amending the state's constitution to say that only a marriage between a man and a woman was valid. The proposition trumped an earlier state Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry.

Dozens of publicly traded companies, including Apple Inc. and Morgan Stanley -- are calling for gay-marriage rights. A group of prominent Republicans -- including seven former governors and actor Clint Eastwood -- filed a similar brief.