Obama: Supreme Court ‘about to make a shift’ on gay marriage

President Obama is predicting that the Supreme Court will “make a shift” and grant a constitutional right to gay marriage.

“My sense is that the Supreme Court is about to make a shift, one that I welcome, which is to recognize that — having hit a critical mass of states that have recognized same-sex marriage — it doesn’t make sense for us to now have this patchwork system,” said the president in an interview with Buzzfeed published Tuesday.

{mosads}“It’s time to recognize that under the equal protection clause … same-sex couples should have the same rights as anybody else,” he added.

The president’s comments come as the Supreme Court prepares to hear cases on gay marriage, with a decision expected by June. Supporters are hopeful that the court will issue a ruling establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage throughout the country, resolving a split among federal appeals courts.

On Monday morning, the Supreme Court also declined to issue a stay in Alabama after a federal judge struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for officials to marry gay couples.

But a number of counties refused to comply with the federal court after Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore ordered officials not to issue marriage licenses.

Supporters of gay marriage likened that move to the opposition to civil rights and integration under then-Alabama Gov. George Wallace in the 1960s.

“I won’t say it’s a perfect analogy, but there’s a core principle here that’s at stake, which is we have a supremacy clause in our Constitution,” Obama told Buzzfeed, when asked about the Wallace analogy.

 “When federal law is in conflict with state law, federal law wins out.”