Oral Arguments for UT and OK Cases Scheduled for April 10 and 17 in Denver
New York–(ENEWSPF)–March 25, 2014. Next month, freedom to marry cases in Utah and Oklahoma will be heard by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, the first marriage cases to be heard by an appellate court since the Windsor ruling striking down the core of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. The plaintiffs in both cases prevailed in their suits against state constitutional amendments denying the freedom to marry.
Given the importance of the Utah (Kitchen v. Herbert) and Oklahoma (Bishop v. Oklahoma) cases, Freedom to Marry and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) have launched a new web resource, 10thcircuit.org, as a straightforward, comprehensive one-stop-shop for information, news, and analysis. The site is a resource for background on the cases, friend-of the-court briefs, plaintiff profiles, recent polling, and context about the state-of-play in Utah, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Kansas – the six states covered by the 10th Circuit.
“With the explosion of marriage cases in the courts, we’ve created a dynamic one-stop shop for everything 10th circuit-related,” said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry. “Background on these critical cases, the plaintiffs and attorneys, polling, and champions in the region make a strong, bipartisan case for the freedom to marry.”
There are now 58 active lawsuits in 28 states seeking the freedom to marry or equal respect under the law for same-sex couples who have gotten married. In recent months, nine out of nine federal judges have ruled against marriage discrimination; not one court has upheld marriage discrimination or ruled against the freedom to marry in years.
“As lawyers involved in a number of the marriage cases, either directly or working with local attorneys behind the scenes, we knew we could best assist the public by making information about the goings on in the 10th circuit readily available in a single web link,” said Kate Kendell, executive director of NCLR and co-counsel in the Utah case. “Even for those of us involved day-to-day, any resource that makes information available in real time and in one place is a tremendous asset.”
As cases ripen in the other circuits in the coming days and weeks similar resources will be made available.
Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.NCLRights.org
Source: http://www.freedomtomarry.org
