What Obama should do to translate his inaugural words about gay equality into greater action

Greg Sargent is the (straight) author of The Plum Line blog.

     ...The legal team representing the plaintiffs in the Prop 8 case are lobbying Obama’s Justice Department to file a brief arguing that Prop 8 is unconstitutional, sources say, and the Justice Department is mulling the request. Obama has taken a position against Prop 8 on the policy merits, but his administration has not declared whether it believes the law is constitutional or not...
     White House press secretary Jay Carney said today that Obama still believes gay marriage should be an issue for the states. But Obama can believe this while simultaneously claiming he believes Prop 8 crossed a line into unconstitutionality. That would not be an argument for a federal gay marriage statute, but rather only a declaration that this particular state law is unconstitutional.
     The argument that the Justice Department should weigh in on Prop 8 is not to say Obama’s words yesterday were unimportant. They were historic, and his record on gay rights has been sterling. It’s only to say that Obama’s own words — that we should not rest until gay couples are treated equally “under the law” — are an eloquent reminder that he should take this next step, and declare whether Prop 8 violates the Constitutional right to equal protection “under the law.”
      After all, Obama’s speech yesterday described gay rights as an extension of the battle for civil rights for African Americans — an area where the federal courts did step in and override states-based efforts to deprive blacks of their rights, including in the area of interracial marriage...