Attorneys General have been getting loads of gay press in recent weeks, thanks in large part to the divergent positions being taken by Doug Gansler and Ken Cuccinelli in Maryland and Virginia, respectively. For his part, Gansler’s receiving kudos for coming out to say that Maryland would recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Gays, he insisted, deserve the same respect as their heterosexual counterparts. Sure, Gansler had been asked by lawmakers to issue his opinion, so it wasn’t necessarily by his own volition. Still, Gov. Martin O’Malley seems poised to take Gansler’s advice, saying, “I expect all state agencies to work with the Attorney General’s office to ensure compliance with the law.” Gansler has long said he believes in marriage equality and his remark should, in theory, be taken as the legal authority for the state. Attorneys General are, after all, the top legal advisor to state governments. And that’s precisely the problem with Cuccinelli.

Cuccinelli, a Republican who once served as a Virginia state Senator, earlier this month backed Gov. Bob McDonnell’s order that colleges not include sexuality and gender identity in their non-discrimination clauses. Said Cuccinelli, “It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including ’sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,’ or like classification as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy absent specific authorization from the General Assembly.” Neither Gansler nor Cuccinelli are the final word on such complicated matters, but, as the states’ top lawyers, they’re definitely powerful voices.

Gansler and Cuccinelli are hardly the only Attorneys General who have waded into the gay waters. California Attorney General Jerry Brown urged his state to overturn Proposition 8 back in 2008. Massachusetts’ Martha Coakley, meanwhile, went one step further and issued a lawsuit last July challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Coakley insists that the law, which protects states’ rights to define marriage, went beyond the federal government’s reach. Reads the complaint, “In enacting DOMA, Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states’ efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people.”

Coakley upped the ante in February of this year by urging the federal government to issue a summary judgment on the matter, for “The federal government has no legitimate interest in ‘preserving the status quo’ where the status quo is invidious discrimination.” The government has until April 30th to issue its findings. No word on how that will pan out, but Coakley’s action, as well as those in Virginia and Maryland, prove how essential Attorneys General will be in the ongoing fight for equality. Those roles only loom larger thanks to a campaign being led by law student Paul Sousa.

Sousa and his peers have started their campaign, Defend the Law, by targeting targeted candidates for attorney general Connecticut, where marriage equality was passed in 2008. Explained Sousa, “We are simply asking these attorneys general and candidates for attorney general whether they would defend state law — marriage equality — and legally support the lawsuit against the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denies married same-sex couples of their state all 1,138 federal marriage benefits.” The campaign last week asked whether these candidates would support their state law and join Coakley’s suit against DOMA. All three of the Democratic candidates, Susan Bysiewicz, Cam Staples and George Jepsen, have said they would support Coakley’s suit. Sousa and company plan on extending their campaign to other states, like Rhode Island, where marriage equality has passed, guaranteeing that Attorneys General a will continue to play an oversized role in a debate in which our elected officials in Washington seem disinterested.

Asked why he thinks Attorneys General have found themselves in the spotlight, Sousa replied, “It’s partly an awareness issue. The more we get attorneys general to think critically about these issues and consider these legal arguments, the more often they will actually take action.” As we gear up for the November elections, states rights are going to become more and more of a political issue.

Whether it’s about the stimulus, health care or gun votes, federalism will again prove to be a powerful, even overpowering, rallying cry. It’s on that turf that the fight for gay equality will be fought. And that’s precisely why we all need to keep our eyes on Attorneys General and their stances on same-sex marriage, not to mention a host of other rights we deserve.

Image via Martha Coakley’s Flickr.