Bush v. Gore lawyer: Same-sex marriage is a conservative value

The lead attorney arguing against California's Proposition 8 says US District Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling is an example of "judicial responsibility."

Ted Olson, who represented George W. Bush in the Bush v. Gore case that decided the 2000 presidential election, told Fox News' Chris Wallace Sunday that it's not "judicial activism" when a judge follows the Constitution.

"Where is the right to same-sex marriage in the Constitution?" asked Wallace.

"Where is the right to interracial marriage in the Constitution, Chris?" replied Olson.

Olsen continued, "The Supreme Court has looked at marriage and has said that the right to marry is a fundamental right for all citizens. So you call it interracial marriage and then you could prohibit it, no? The Supreme Court said no. The same thing here.

"The judge after hearing three weeks of testimony and full day of closing arguments and listening to experts from all over the world concluded that the denial of the right to marry to these individuals in California hurt them and did not advance the cause of opposite sex marriage," Olson said.

"This is what judges are expected to do. It's not judicial activism. It's judicial responsibility in the classic sense."

As the lawyer that successfully argued Bush v. Gore before spending three years as President Bush's solicitor general, Olson's conservative credentials are unassailable. Wallace wanted to know why Olson would support gay rights in this case.

"We believe that a conservative value is stable relationships and stable community and loving individuals coming together and forming a basis that is a building block of our society, which includes marriage," said Olson.

This video is from Fox's Fox News Sunday, broadcast Aug. 8, 2010.

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