The fiery debate surrounding same-sex marriage is once again heating up. This time, the discussion is both in the California Legislature and before the Supreme Court. The latter has, for the first time, agreed to rule on whether the California Constitution allows the state to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying.

San Diego has the opportunity to make history by following the lead of other major cities that have filed amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” briefs in support of marriage equality.

A friend of the court brief is a document filed with the court by someone who is not a party to the case but who believes that the court’s decision may affect its interest.

Shortly after the Supreme Court agreed to rule on the issue of same-sex marriage in December 2006, the City Attorney of San Francisco, Dennis Herrera, filed an opening brief in the case to overturn Proposition 22, a state initiative that restricts marriage to a union between a man and a woman that voters adopted in 2000.

Herrera’s brief states that laws against same-sex marriage represent “shameful persecution of gays.”

Both Los Angeles and West Hollywood are also expected to file briefs supporting San Francisco’s position, Herrera said.

Last week, the San Jose Mercury News reported the San Jose City Council joined San Francisco in support of its plea to overturn Proposition 22, voting 10-2 to file its own friend of the court brief.

Moreover, the state Assembly recently approved marriage equality legislation, challenging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has said he would once again veto the bill if it passes the full Legislature. The majority said the Legislature should not to wait for the state Supreme Court to act on the issue.

Clearly it’s time for California to join Massachusetts and recognize that marriage is not a heterosexual privilege but a human right. And San Diego should not wait to act on the issue.

Not only should the City Council follow San Francisco’s lead by filing a friend of the court brief, but the city attorney and the district attorney should support the rights of same-sex couples and their children.

While San Diego is not a party to the litigation, the Supreme Court’s decision certainly affects thousands of GLBT San Diego residents.

Still, the question is whether we will join our neighbors to the north in the fight.

When we asked Councilmember Toni Atkins last week whether San Diego will write a friend of the court brief to support San Francisco and same-sex marriage, she said: “I’d like to see San Diego go on record in support of marriage equality. I will ask my colleagues and the city attorney to support it.”

On Tuesday, Atkins explained that she has asked City Attorney Mike Aguirre, who has the power to file the brief, about the process. She has also prepared a memorandum asking councilmembers to support the issue.

We applaud Atkins, as the openly lesbian councilmember representing a large number of GLBT constituents, for moving forward on this issue. But we wonder why we had to prompt her to take the initiative. Certainly, when Jackie Goldberg served on the Los Angeles City Council, if such an opportunity arose, she would have not only been pounding the gavel, but she would have also been pounding the doors of each of her colleagues to make sure that they supported the issue.

We urge Atkins to take an active lead on same-sex marriage and push her fellow councilmembers to stand in support. If Atkins plans a run for state Assembly, she has the opportunity now to make her mark on same-sex marriage locally.

While it’s clear that we can expect Atkins to be in full support of the San Francisco position, whether the other councilmembers are willing to openly show their support is not. Atkins said that she is not sure what to expect from her colleagues, and the GLT could not get any councilmembers to go on record to say if they would support same-sex marriage.

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