“Voices of Children Briefs”Filed in both Cases to Spotlight Harms Children Face When their LGBTQ Parents are Denied Marriage Protections
Washington DC— Family Equality Council is praising today’s ruling from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down marriage bans for same-sex couples in Idaho and Nevada. A three-judge panel issued a unanimous decision in favor of equality.
Statement from Executive Director Gabriel Blau:
“We’re elated to see yet another victory for our families, this time affecting those we serve in Idaho and Nevada. In both cases we filed our signature ‘Voices of Children’ briefs to illustrate the concrete harms that children must endure when their parents lack access to marriage protections.
“From the groundbreaking Windsor and Perry cases in 2013, to the recent Fourth, Seventh and Tenth Circuit decisions, to the Ninth Circuit ruling today, we are positively impacting marriage cases throughout the nation with our arguments on the vital need to safeguard our children. Our “Voices of Children” briefs have made a significant impact on the outcomes of these cases and we are proud to have magnified their stories to motivate change. All families deserve to be valued and treated equally and we will keep working on behalf of all LGBTQ families until we achieve equality nationwide.
“We send huge congratulations to our friends at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Lambda Legal, who successfully litigated these cases, and also extend our deepest gratitude to attorneys from Bryan Cave LLP for their phenomenal work in drafting our ‘Voices of Children’ briefs.”
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About Family Equality Council®: Family Equality Council® connects, supports, and represents the three million parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer in this country today and their six million children of all ages. We are changing attitudes and policies to ensure that all families are respected, loved, and celebrated—including families with parents who are LGBTQ. We are a community of parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren that reaches across this country. For over 30 years we have raised our children and raised our voices toward fairness for all families.