There's been a lot of media coverage of the statement put out by a coalition of LGBT groups advising against a federal same-sex marriage lawsuit, especially in light of just such a lawsuit being filed in California. We've seen a lot of discussion of the statement and the lawsuit, but not everyone has seen the statement itself. Here's your chance:
Now that the California Supreme Court has refused to strike down Proposition 8, we need to go back to the voters. Since we lost Proposition 8 just six months ago, and since a ballot initiative to repeal is likely to require a huge investment in time and money, it is tempting to at least try a federal lawsuit first. But it’s a temptation we should resist. It is by no means clear that a federal challenge to Prop. 8 can win now. And an unsuccessful challenge may delay marriage even longer, not only in California but in other states, and seriously damage the rights of LGBT people on many other important issues.
Rather than filing premature lawsuits, we need to talk to our friends, family and neighbors, and help them understand why denial of the freedom to marry is wrong. We need to build a vigorous, aggressive campaign to overturn Prop 8 and restore the freedom to marry in California. This is the moment to convince California and America that we should have the freedom to marry.
History says the odds at the Supreme Court now are not so good.
Like a 5-year-old with a new pack of crayons, I happily filled in states with blue (the color for marriage), green (for New York and D.C., which recognize out-of-state marriages) and yellow (the color of “all-but-the-name” civil unions and domestic partnerships, which grant the same rights and responsibilities as marriage). Even the grey states — which have some sort of “less-than-marriage” relationship recognition for same-sex couples — were satisfying, since adding them meant that there’s almost no region of the country without a state that recognizes our relationships. (Sorry Southerners, but you’ll get there!)