National
Prop 8 attorneys file brief before Supreme Court
Lawyers argue measure labels LGBT families as ‘second-rate’
Ted Olson was among attorneys who signed AFER’s brief against Prop 8. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The legal team behind the challenge to California’s Proposition 8 filed its brief on Thursday before the Supreme Court asking it to declare the anti-gay measure unconstitutional.
The 54-page brief, signed by co-counsels Ted Olson and David Boies on behalf of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, asserts that Prop 8 — a ballot initiative passed by California voters in 2008 — should be struck down because prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying in California violates due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.
“It denies gay men and lesbians their identity and their dignity; it labels their families as second-rate,” the brief concludes. “That outcome cannot be squared with the principle of equality and the unalienable right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness that is the bedrock promise of America from the Declaration of Independence to the Fourteenth Amendment, and the dream of all Americans.”
The brief is divided into three sections. The first maintains proponents of Prop 8, such as ProtectMarriage.com, don’t have standing to defend the measure before the Supreme Court because they won’t be harmed if gay couples marry in California. Attorneys also argue their desire to defend the law is insufficient to meet standing requirements under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
A substantial part of the brief is devoted to arguing that Prop 8 is unconstitutional based on the merits. The second section of the brief maintains the measure violates due process because the right to marry is fundamental. This section also tears into the argument that proponents outlined in their brief before the Supreme Court the purpose of marriage is procreation is incorrect based on the trial record in the case.
“Indeed, many persons become parents through adoption or assisted reproduction and exercise their constitutional rights to marry and raise those children in a recognized family unit,” the brief states. “Yet Proponents’ assertions about marriage — and that is all that they are — would leave adoptive parents and infertile couples without any constitutional protection against a State that prohibits them from marrying.”
The third section of the brief argues that denying gay couples the right to marry violates their equal protection rights — not to mention the constitutional rights of the estimated 40,000 children raised in same-sex households.
This argument is divided into three sections: 1) discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation merits heightened scrutiny, or greater assumption such laws are unconstitutional ; 2) laws that prohibit gay men from marrying don’t meet the lesser standard of rational basis review and heightened scrutiny; and 3) Prop 8 is unconstitutional because it was motivated out of desire to make gay people unequal to straight people.
“The absence of any rational justification for depriving gay men and lesbians of their right to marry, and marking their relationships as inferior to those of heterosexual couples, leads inexorably to the conclusion that Proposition 8’s principal purpose was to advance the majority’s moral disapproval of gay relationships,” the brief states.
Notably, the brief is along the lines of the ruling from U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker against the anti-gay brief. It doesn’t delve into the narrower ruling made against Prop 8 by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the measure is unconstitutional because it took away marriage rights from gay couples after they once enjoyed them in the state after the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality in 2008.
But during a conference call with reporters on the same day the brief was filed, Olson assured the media that the argument that attorneys are “embracing” the Ninth Circuit ruling in their brief and it’s important to all arguments against Prop 8 are being made from the top down.
The brief from AFER wasn’t the only one filed on Thursday in the Prop 8 case. The Supreme Court allowed San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart to participate in the case. They articulated arguments against Prop 8 in a 62-page document.
That brief makes arguments along the lines made by AFER that Prop 8 violated due process and equal protection, but the brief also makes the case that Prop 8 can be invalidated even as the national debate continues on same-sex marriage.
“Petitioners’ argument derogates the most im- portant role this Court serves in our democracy: to protect the constitutional rights of minorities from encroachment by an unsympathetic majority,” the brief states. “The responsibility to protect individual rights does not transfer to the political process when the dispute happens to be “controversial.”
The next step in the process for the Prop 8 case is for opponents of the measure to file their friends-of-the-court brief before the Feb. 28 — one week from the day these briefs were filed. Opponents of Prop 8 are hoping the Obama administration will be among those filing such a brief. Oral arguments in the Prop 8 case are set for March 26.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
Federal Government
Republican state AGs challenge Biden administration’s revised Title IX policies
New rules protect LGBTQ students from discrimination
Four Republicans state attorneys general have sued the Biden-Harris administration over the U.S. Department of Education’s new Title IX policies that were finalized April 19 and carry anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students in public schools.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday, which is led by the attorneys general of Kentucky and Tennessee, follows a pair of legal challenges from nine Republican states on Monday — all contesting the administration’s interpretation that sex-based discrimination under the statute also covers that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The administration also rolled back Trump-era rules governing how schools must respond to allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, which were widely perceived as biased in favor of the interests of those who are accused.
“The U.S. Department of Education has no authority to let boys into girls’ locker rooms,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. “In the decades since its adoption, Title IX has been universally understood to protect the privacy and safety of women in private spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms.”
“Florida is suing the Biden administration over its unlawful Title IX changes,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on social media. “Biden is abusing his constitutional authority to push an ideological agenda that harms women and girls and conflicts with the truth.”
After announcing the finalization of the department’s new rules, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters, “These regulations make it crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights.”
The new rule does not provide guidance on whether schools must allow transgender students to play on sports teams corresponding with their gender identity to comply with Title IX, a question that is addressed in a separate rule proposed by the agency in April.
LGBTQ and civil rights advocacy groups praised the changes. Lambda Legal issued a statement arguing the new rule “protects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination and other abuse,” adding that it “appropriately underscores that Title IX’s civil rights protections clearly cover LGBTQ+ students, as well as survivors and pregnant and parenting students across race and gender identity.”
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