Seventy-five prominent Republicans have signed a legal brief backing the idea that gay people have a constitutional right to get married according to the New York Times, but to give you an idea of how contentious (and possibly electorally damaging) the issue still is within the party, only two of those who signed are currently holding federal office. Miami's own Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is one of those two, but that shouldn't be much of a surprise considering she's long been a defender of LGBT rights.
Ros-Lehtinen is joined by Rep. Richard Hanna of New York. Though several other non-office-holding Republicans signed the amicus as well, including former moderate governors and top advisors to Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.
The friend-of-the-court brief will be submitted to the Supreme Court before it decides two landmark cases involving the constitutionality of both California's Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act.
Ros-Lehtinen has long been one of the few elected Republican voices to support gay rights. Many figured it was a shrewd electoral decision, considering Miami-Dade Republicans in her district are less socially conservative than most Republican voters and, until last year, her district also included the dual gay Meccas of Key West and South Beach. Though, Ros-Lehtinen's son has since come out as transgendered.
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