First Lady Stresses Importance of Sup. Ct. on Marriage Equality

Michelle Obama is reminding voters that their choice for president will affect the fate of marriage equality, since the president makes appointments to the Supreme Court.

The first lady campaigned for her husband Monday in New York City. At a TriBeCa fund-raiser hosted by Robert DeNiro and his wife, Mrs. Obama stressed the importance of the next four years for the Supreme Court. "Let us not forget what [the Supreme Court's] decisions -- the impact those decisions will have on our lives for decades to come -- on our privacy and security, on whether we can speak freely, worship openly, and, yes, love whomever we choose."

MetroWeekly reports that Mrs. Obama's words were greeted with applause. The first lady made a similar statement at a fund-raiser earlier in the day in Chelsea: "Let's not forget the impact [the Supreme Court's] decisions will have on our children's lives for decades to come -- on their privacy and security; on whether they can speak freely, worship openly, and love whomever they choose."

The first lady's communications director is Kristina Schake, a founding board member for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which spearheaded the successful federal challenge to California's Prop. 8. AFER board president and incoming HRC president Chad Griffin, with a male date, sat next to the Obamas at a recent state dinner.