LGBT Organizations Warn that Lawsuits Could Set Back Progress on Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

May 27, 2009, New York, NY

PRESS CONTACT:

Evan Wolfson
Executive Director, Freedom to Marry
Tel: 212-851-8418; Mobile: 646-263-5552
Email: evan@freedomtomarry.org

New York, May 27, 2009 – In response to the California Supreme Court decision allowing Prop 8 to stand, four LGBT legal organizations and five other leading national LGBT groups are reminding the LGBT community that ill-timed lawsuits could set the fight for marriage back. The groups released a new publication, “Why the ballot box and not the courts should be the next step on marriage in California.” This publication discourages people from bringing premature lawsuits based on the federal Constitution because, without more groundwork, the U.S. Supreme Court likely is not yet ready to rule that same-sex couples cannot be barred from marriage. The groups also revised “Make Change, Not Lawsuits,” which was released after the California Supreme Court decision ending the ban on marriage for same-sex couples in California. This publication encourages couples who have legally married to ask friends, neighbors and institutions to honor their marriages, but discourages people from bringing lawsuits.

“Why the ballot box and not the courts should be the next step on marriage in California” is available at http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pdfs/why_the_ballot_box.pdf

“Make Change, Not Lawsuits” is available at http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pdfs/make_change_not_lawsuits-0509_update.pdf

Read Online: http://www.freedomtomarry.org/press_center/lawsuits_set_back_progress.php

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Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Launched in 2003, Freedom to Marry is headed by Evan Wolfson, nationally recognized as a central "architect of the marriage equality movement." Freedom to Marry guides and focuses this social justice movement on a nationwide level, serving as a strategy and support center for national, state, and local partners, a catalyst that drives and shapes the national debate on marriage equality, and an alliance-builder fostering support from non-gay allies.

Megan Kinninger
Program Manager
Freedom to Marry
Tel: 212.851.8418 x7
Fax: 646.375.2069
Mobile: 718.640.8934