LGBT parents: celebrate today, get to work tomorrow
Boston, MA—A U.S. District Court judge ruled the state of
California was in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Equal
Protection and Due Process Clauses when in 2008 it eliminated
marriage rights for same-sex couples with the passage of
Proposition 8. Judge Vaughn Walker found that marriage is a
fundamental right for all. The judge’s decision is widely
expected to be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Today, we celebrate the court’s decision that upheld the
rights of liberty and equality enshrined in our Constitution,”
said Family Equality Council’s Executive Director, Jennifer
Chrisler. “Judge Walker reaffirmed that marriage equality would
do nothing but benefit our children. Congratulations are in order
to the plaintiffs in this case, including Kristin Perry and Sandra
Stier, who can now be married like any other parent.”
It is the first time a federal court has heard, first hand, from
live witnesses about the harm that the denial of marriage equality
causes same-sex couples and their families every day.
“We celebrate today but our work is far from over,” said
Chrisler. “There is a long legal road ahead of us, and LGBT
parents must get to work. At the end of the day, this is about our
children. As parents, we are in the best position to speak to
straight parents about what it means to us and our kids to
marry.”
Family Equality Council also applauds the many pro-family
statements that David Blakenhorn, the star witness for supporters
of Proposition 8, ironically made throughout the course of the
trial.
“Gay marriage would extend a wide range of the natural and
practical benefits of marriage to many lesbian and gay couples and
their children,” said Blankenhorn on January 27, 2010. On the
same day he admitted, “By increasing the number of married
couples who might be interested in adoption and foster care,
same-sex marriage might well lead to fewer children growing up in
state institutions and more growing up in loving adoptive and
foster families.”
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The Family Equality Council works at all levels of government to
advance full social and legal equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender families, one million of whom are raising two
million children in the U.S.