Hillary Clinton endorses marriage equality

Saying that “gay rights are human rights,’’ Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state and potential 2016 presidential candidate, has endorsed marriage equality. “I believe America is at its best when we champion the freedom and dignity of every human being,’’ Mrs. Clinton said in a video posted Monday on the Internet by the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group. Her announcement comes as the Supreme Court is about to hear two landmark gay rights cases that advocates hope will make marriage equality legal in all 50 states. Mrs. Clinton had not previously come out in favor of marriage equality, but she did take steps to protect gay couples when she was secretary of state, work that she said “inspired me to think anew” about the values she held.