• Relationships & Family > Marriage & Relationships

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the Ninth Circuit’s 2021 ruling that allowed for the public release of the video recording of the federal trial challenging Proposition 8 – the 2009 ballot initiative that reversed the California Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision by amending the California Constitution to permit discrimination against same-sex couples.

“NCLR is thrilled that the United States Supreme Court has finally ended the decade-long legal back-and-forth over the release of the recordings from the Proposition 8 hearings in 2009,” said NCLR executive director Imani Rupert-Gordon (she/her). “The proponents of Prop 8 clearly know the obvious: that by releasing these recordings, the irrationality of laws like Prop 8 will finally be on full display. At a time when we are seeing nearly 350 anti-LGBTQ laws being passed around the country in a single year, exposing the fallacies on which these laws are based – many of which target our most vulnerable youth – is more important than ever. 

“By refusing to hear this case,” said NCLR legal director Shannon Minter (he/him), “the Court has finally closed the chapter on one of the darkest times for LGBTQ Californians and paved the way for the public to hear the powerful and historic testimony of brave individuals like Ryan Kendall, a conversion therapy survivor who courageously shared his story to show the immutability of sexual orientation and the harmful impact of laws like Prop 8 on the health and well-being of LGBTQ people.”

NCLR represented same-sex couples in the historic California Supreme Court case, and NCLR’s then-Executive Director served on the campaign opposing Proposition 8. NCLR was also counsel in Strauss v. Horton, which held that the marriages of same-sex couples entered before Prop 8 were valid and could not be retroactively nullified.

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The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Since its founding 45 years ago, NCLR has maintained a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and the most underrepresented in the LGBTQ community. www.nclrights.org