California Attorney General Kemala Harris gave an impassioned, pithy defense of marriage equality during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s hearing on whether California’s Proposition 8, which overturned the state’s marriage equality law, is itself constitutional.

Asked by CNN’s Candy Crowley to explain why she was refusing to defend the state’s proposition, Harris insisted that the measure undermined the fundamental rights of gay Americans, taking away their equal protections under the law:

I am absolutely against a ban on same-sex marriages because [bans] are simply unconstitutional. And it is one thing to read the polls, which we have discussed which show again that a majority of Americans are in favor of same sex marriage, but it is more important to read the Constitution. And the Constitution of the United States dictates, I believe, under every court precedent that we have discussed in terms of describing marriage as a fundamental right that the same-sex couples that are before the United states supreme court — Mrs. Windsor, Miss Perry — be allowed to have equal protection under the laws as any Americans when it comes to their ability to join themselves with their loving partners in marriage and raise their children. And 61% of Californians are in favor of same-sex marriage.

Watch it (Harris’ central case is from :18 to 1:10):

When asked afterwards by Crowley why Californians voted in 2008 to ban same-sex marriage, Harris points out that, in 2013, 61 percent of Californians support equality. But, more importantly, she argued that there were 50,000 children in California “who are asking: why can’t my parents be married too?”

Nicole Wallace, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, called out social conservative leader Gary Bauer for his outdated opposition to marriage equality during a discussion on Fox News Sunday about the Supreme Court’s upcoming hearings on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8.

In a contentious segment, Bauer described the effort to legalize same-sex marriage as a “radical movement” that is “trying to redefine marriage so it is a profoundly unconservative thing.” He accused supporters of marriage equality of being brainwashed by a “full-court blitz by the popular culture” and the “elites,” who, he charged, “intimidate” and “cower people into no longer defending marriage as being between a man and a woman.”

Wallace pushed back against the claims, noting that a growing number of conservatives have evolved in favor of equality and predicting that the Court will come down “on the side of freedom” when it hands down its ruling in June:

WALLACE: Chris, Chris, the biggest problem that Mr. Bauer faces, not just this morning but moving forward is that more than 65% of his own base, self-describing Evangelical Christians, under the age of 33, support marriage equality. 80% of people in this country, right, left, Democrat, Republican, man, woman, support marriage equality. More than 60% of all Americans, everyone, supports marriage equality. And that very some activist court that he railed against, with such hostility this morning always sides on the side of freedom. They are the same court that overturned gun bans, for overreaching. They’re the very same court that overturned campaign finance reform for overreaching, so we can despise the courts for its activism when we don’t like their behavior, but we can’t say that this is a court that always sides on the side of liberals.

Watch it:

Indeed, a Washington Post poll released on Monday found that 58 percent of Americans now believe it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to get married, including 81 percent of young people, and 52 percent of Republican-leaning Independents. More conservatives, Evangelicals, Republicans, and senior citizens support marriage than did nine years ago.