A Statement from NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter (Washington, D.C., December 15, 2009) — Today, in a final vote of 11-2, the Washington, D.C. City Council passed legislation to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. The bill, championed by City Councilmember David A. Catania, first sailed through the Council with overwhelming support on December 1. Mayor Adrian Fenty has pledged to sign the bill immediately. Next, the bill heads to Capitol Hill for a 30-day legislative review...
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marriage equality
A Statement from Executive Director Kate Kendell (San Francisco, California, December 2, 2009) — Today, in a 38-24 vote, the New York State Senate failed to pass a bill which would have extended the right to marry to same-sex couples. As Lisa Keen of Keen News Service reported in the Bay Area Reporter, Senator Bill Perkins, an African American Democrat from Harlem, addressed the bill’s openly gay sponsor, Tom Duane (D-Manhattan), by saying “Thank you, brother.” Then he turned to the galley...
(San Francisco, CA, September 18, 2009)— Today, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss in Gill v. Office of Personnel Development, a federal lawsuit challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which excludes same-sex couples from all federal benefits and protections given to heterosexual married couples. A statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. “We are disappointed that the Justice Department continues to advance what we believe are...
(San Francisco, California, September 15, 2009) — The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) applaud lawmakers for introducing legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law that discriminates against lawfully married same-sex couples. Through DOMA, the federal government selectively denies same-sex couples more than 1,100 federal protections and responsibilities, including Social Security and immigration benefits, that apply...
(San Francisco, CA, August 17, 2009)— The Department of Justice filed its reply brief today in Smelt v. United States, a federal lawsuit challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which excludes same-sex couples from all federal benefits and protections given to heterosexual married couples. A statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. “We appreciate that the Department of Justice has acknowledged that DOMA is a blatantly discriminatory measure that must be...
(San Francisco, California, July 9, 2009)—Yesterday, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed suit against the federal government challenging the constitutionality of the anti-gay federal so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA). The suit targets DOMA Section 3, the section that denies federal benefits to married same- sex couples, charging that Congress overstepped its authority in enacting the measure. The Commonwealth argues in the case that DOMA undermines states’ efforts to recognize...
Motion filed in response to judge’s call for information to resolve ‘factual disputes’ (San Francisco, California, July 8, 2009)—Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today asked the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to allow Our Family Coalition, Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to intervene in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a federal lawsuit challenging California’s...
(San Francisco, CA, June 19, 2009)—The California Supreme Court has issued a modified version of its opinion in the cases challenging Proposition 8, to correct a factual error pointed out in a petition filed by NCLR and our co-counsel (Lambda Legal, the ACLU, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, and David Codell) and joined by the City and County of San Francisco. The revised opinion clarifies that the racially discriminatory initiative amendment that was challenged on federal constitutional...
Advocacy Groups Vow to Return to Polls to Restore Marriage for Same-sex Couples (San Francisco, CA, May 26, 2009)—Today, in a 6 to 1 decision, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, the ballot measure that eliminated the right of same sex couples to marry. In the ruling authored by Chief Justice Ronald George, the Court stated “We emphasize only that among the various constitutional protections recognized in the Marriage Cases as available to same-sex couples, it is only the...
Grupos de abogacía juran que volverán a la boleta para restaurar el matrimonio para las parejas del mismo sexo (San Francisco, CA, 26 de Mayo, 2009)— En una decisión de 6 a 1, la Corte Suprema de California confirmó hoy la Proposición 8, el plebiscito que eliminó el derecho a casarse a las parejas del mismo sexo. En el fallo por el juez Ronald George, presidente de la Corte Suprema, la corte dictaminó “Hacemos hincapié que dentro de las varias protecciones constitucionales reconocidas en los...