Obama on Prop 8 case: Country’s evolution on gay marriage ‘profoundly positive’

President Obama said Friday his personal evolution in support of gay marriage reflects broader public support and helped convince him that his administration could not avoid weighing in on the Supreme Court’s review of California’s same-sex marriage ban.

“I felt it was important for us to articulate what I believe and what this administration stands for,” Obama said a day after the Justice Department filed a court brief arguing that Proposition 8 — a voter initiative that amended the California Constitution in 2008 to limit marriage to a man and a woman — violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.