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訊息

Mary L. Bonauto, the Civil Rights Project Director for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 28, 2015, behalf of same-sex couples who are currently being excluded from marriage. She will stand on behalf of the Michigan case 德波爾訴斯奈德案 and the Kentucky case 洛夫訴貝希爾案.

Bonauto issued the following statement:

“I’m humbled to be standing up for the petitioners from Kentucky and Michigan who seek the freedom to marry, along with attorneys Carole Stanyar, Dana Nessel, Ken Mogill, and Robert Sedler, and with support from the other legal teams in OH and TN.  The road that we’ve all travelled to get here has been built by so many people who believe that marriage is a fundamental right.  Same-sex couples should not be excluded from the joy, the security, and the full citizenship signified by that institution. I believe the Court will give us a fair hearing, and I look forward to the day when all LGBT Americans will be able to marry the person they love.”

Janson Wu, GLAD’s executive director, said, “Our community is extremely fortunate to have Mary as our advocate. To say she has deep knowledge of the issues is an understatement; it is equally an understatement to say she has a sharp legal mind, a big heart, and a generous spirit.”

Bonauto became a member of the legal team for the Michigan case 德波爾訴斯奈德案 at the invitation of co-counsel Nessel, Stanyar, Mogill, and Sedler, and has helped to organize amicus briefs for the marriage cases.  Bonauto argued GLAD’s case 古德里奇訴 DPH, which made Massachusetts the first state in which same-sex couples could marry in 2004.  GLAD’s Defense of Marriage Act challenges 吉爾訴 OPM佩德森訴 OPM, spearheaded by Bonauto, also produced the first rulings from a federal court that DOMA was unconstitutional. She was also part of the legal team on Windsor v. U.S., resulting in the striking down of DOMA.

Also co-counsel on the four cases are Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union. And on April 28, attorney Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, on behalf of petitioners from Ohio and Tennessee, will present arguments for the question: “Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?”

More information on the DeBoer case can be found at www.gladlaw.org/marriage 或者 www.nationalmarriagechallenge.com.

訊息

(Washington D.C. March 17, 2015) — Today counsel representing all plaintiffs from the Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee marriage lawsuits submitted a proposal to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting that argument time be divided equally among the cases from the four states.

The Court previously allocated 45 minutes each to petitioners and respondents to Question 1 (“Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?”) and 30 minutes each to petitioners and respondents to Question 2 (“Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?”).

The proposal requests that two segments of 15 minutes each be allotted on Question 1 to plaintiffs’ counsel in the Kentucky and Michigan cases (in addition to the 15 minutes that the U.S. Solicitor General has requested on that question) and that two segments of 15 minutes each be allotted on Question 2 to plaintiffs’ counsel in the Ohio and Tennessee cases.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights and private counsel partners representing couples from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee issued the following statement:

“We have an incredible wealth of talent available to argue on behalf of same-sex couples’ freedom to marry and right to have their marriages recognized in all fifty states.  Each of the attorneys who argue will stand on the shoulders of thousands in the movement who worked for decades for this day to arrive and will have the best minds helping them prepare. We look forward to this historic opportunity for advocates from each case to present our compelling arguments to the Court and to share this defining moment with our entire community and the nation.”

Read more about 伯克訴貝希爾案 洛夫訴貝希爾案, on the ACLU’s case page here: www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/bourke-v-beshear-freedom-marry-kentucky

Read more about Deboer v.Snyder on GLAD’s case page here: www.gladlaw.org/work/cases/deboer-v.-snyder and National Marriage Challenge’s website here: www.nationalmarriagechallenge.com

Read more about 亨利訴霍奇斯案 on Lambda Legal’s case page here: www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/henry-v-himes

Read more about 奧貝格費爾訴霍奇斯案 on ACLU’s case page here: www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/obergefell-et-al-v-himes-freedom-marry-ohio

Read more about Tanco v. Haslam, on NCLR’s case page here: www.nclrights.org/cases-and-policy/cases-and-advocacy/tanco_v_haslam/

接觸:

Steve Smith, ACLU National, 212-549-2666; media@aclu.org

Carisa Cunningham,同性戀倡導者和捍衛者,617-426-1350, ccunningham@glad.org

Dana Nessel, 313-556-2300, Dana@NesselandKesselLaw.com

Lisa Hardaway, Lambda Legal 212-809-8585 x 266; lhardaway@lambdalegal.org

艾瑞克·奧爾維拉,NCLR,415-365-1324, EOlvera@NCLRights.org

訊息

Petition Asserts First Circuit Disregarded its Proper Role

Lawyers today petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal on behalf of Michelle Kosilek, a transgender woman who has been denied essential health care while serving a prison sentence in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC).  The DOC has denied Kosilek gender affirming surgery for decades, despite the fact that experts have deemed it medically necessary, and despite the fact the two courts have affirmed that denial constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The petition for certiorari asserts that the First Circuit Court of Appeals overstepped its role with a December 2014 全庭 ruling that, in vacating an earlier panel decision favorable to Kosilek, retried the facts of a 2012 trial, and applied the wrong standard of legal review. The petition, which can be read here, was filed on Kosilek’s behalf by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), attorney Joseph L. Sulman, and Goodwin Procter LLP.

“The Court of Appeals looked at an incredibly thoughtful decision, written with extreme care and attention to the facts by District Court Judge Mark Wolf after a 28-day trial,” said Levi. “Instead of looking for errors of law, as it is supposed to do, the Court not only re-tried the case, it applied a standard of review no other court has ever applied to get the outcome it wanted.”

“This is a quintessentially fact-intensive case,” said Sulman. “The First Circuit found no legal error or clear factual error in Judge Wolf’s decision, which is what it must do to overturn his decision. The way the Court ran roughshod over the most basic of legal principles erodes the credibility of the judiciary. It should be alarming to every single lawyer, litigant, and defendant in a civil case.”

The petition culminates over 20 years of litigation on whether DOC officials have violated Kosilek’s rights by failing to provide adequate care for her severe gender identity disorder (GID), a condition that all parties agree is a “serious medical need.”  As a result of being denied treatment, Kosilek has self-mutilated and has attempted suicide twice.

There have been two decisions issued by Judge Wolf. He found that the DOC engaged in a pattern of “pretense, pretext, and prevarication” to deny her treatment.  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts appealed, and on January 17, 2014, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals upheld Judge Wolf’s decision. The Commonwealth requested and was granted a rehearing of the appeal before the full bench, which overturned Judge Wolf on December 16, 2014 by a vote of 3-2.

In addition to Sulman and Levi, Kosilek is represented by Abigail K. Hemani, Michele E. Connolly, James P. Devendorf, Jaime A. Santos, and Christine Dieter of Goodwin Procter LLP.

Read more about the case

訊息

SSA is Demanding Refunds of Benefits Paid as Result of Agency’s Discrimination

GLAD, Justice in Aging, and Foley Hoag LLP today filed a class action lawsuit, 赫爾德訴科爾文案, 代表 2013 年 6 月或之前與同性結婚的補充保障收入 (SSI) 領取者,對社會安全局 (SSA) 提起訴訟。訴訟指控,在最高法院於 2013 年 6 月推翻《婚姻保護法》(DOMA) 並裁定歧視違法之後,SSA 仍歧視這些人數月,有時甚至超過一年。

閱讀投訴.

Well after DOMA was struck down, SSA did not recognize the marriages of same-sex couples, even in cases where SSI recipients informed SSA that they were married.  Benefits for unmarried individuals are higher than for married individuals, but SSA continued to issue benefits as if the married individuals were single.

Now, the agency is demanding that recipients refund the benefits they were paid as a result of the discrimination.

“Unfortunately for married same-sex couples in marriage recognition states, SSA was completely unprepared to implement policies required of it by law after DOMA was struck down,” says Gerald McIntyre, Directing Attorney for Justice in Aging. “The victims of that discrimination should not be the ones to pay for the agency’s mistake.”

GLAD, Justice in Aging and Foley Hoag LLP are representing Kelley Richardson-Wright of Athol, Massachusetts, who is married to Kena Richardson-Wright; and Hugh Held of Los Angeles, who is married to Orion Masters.


Read more about the plaintiffs.

“Basically Social Security kept making SSI payments after the fall of DOMA without considering the marriages of same sex couples, even when a recipient notified SSI of the marriage,” says Vickie Henry, Senior Staff Attorney for GLAD. “Now, 18 months later, SSA, to remedy its own unconstitutional conduct, is going after people who are both poor and aged or disabled and demanding thousands of dollars from them. That’s not fair, and it’s not right.”

鑑於截至 2014 年 12 月,領取 SSI 福利的人數為 830 萬人,人口中有 5-7% 是女同性戀、男同性戀或雙性戀,該人群的總體貧困發生率,以及在結婚前有數以萬計的同性伴侶結婚, 溫莎, 這個班級可能有數百人.  由於 SSA 以滾動方式重新確定資格,因此推定類別成員的數量將隨著時間的推移而增加。

赫爾德訴科爾文案

Victory! As a result, in part, of this suit, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued a new policy that provides a significant win for individuals receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits who are married to someone of the same sex but whose marriages were not recognized by SSA when they should have been. 閱讀更多.

Background:

GLAD, Justice in Aging and Foley Hoag LLP have filed a class action lawsuit filed a class action lawsuit against the Social Security Administration (SSA) on behalf of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients married to someone of the same sex in or before June 2013. The suit charges that SSA discriminated against these individuals for months, and in some cases more than a year, after that discrimination was held unlawful by the Supreme Court when it struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in June 2013.

Well after DOMA was struck down, SSA did not recognize the marriages of same-sex couples, even in cases where SSI recipients informed SSA that they were married. Benefits for unmarried individuals are higher than for married individuals, but SSA continued to issue benefits as if the married individuals were single. And now the agency is demanding that recipients refund the benefits they were paid as a result of the discrimination.

GLAD, Justice in Aging and Foley Hoag LLP are representing Kelley Richardson-Wright of Athol, Massachusetts, who is married to Kena Richardson-Wright; and Hugh Held of Los Angeles, who is married to Orion Masters.

Kelley and Kena Richardson-Wright

Kelley (47) and Kena (45) have been together for ten years and married for seven. Kelley was a massage therapist until multiple medical issues forced her to go on disability and start receiving SSI.At the time she applied for disability, she informed the Social Security Administration that she was married. Kena works as a hair stylist for minimum wage.To recover the $4,000 SSA says that Kelley owes them, Social Security has started withholding money from her monthly check, resulting in the repossession of the couple’s car, and the risk that they will lose their housing. Kelley was hospitalized with a stress-related illness as a result of the extreme financial strain.

Hugh Held and Orion Masters

Hugh Held (55) and Orion Masters (56) live in Los Angeles, CA. They have been together since 1993 and have been married since 2008. Mr. Held has been receiving SSI on the basis of disability since 2008. On three separate occasions, he told workers at his local SSA office that he was married and asked how the Windsor case might affect his benefits. At first he was told that it would not affect his benefits and the last time he was told it probably would affect his benefits, but they didn’t know how. Then, suddenly, in June 2014, one year after DOMA was struck down, his monthly benefit was reduced to $308.10 from $877.40, with no explanation. He then received a bill for overpayment of $6,205. It was not until three months later (September 2014) that he received an explanation for the changes.

Read more about the plaintiffs

鑑於截至 2014 年 12 月,領取 SSI 福利的人數為 830 萬人,人口中有 5-7% 是女同性戀、男同性戀或雙性戀,該人群的總體貧困發生率,以及在結婚前有數以萬計的同性伴侶結婚, 溫莎, 這個班級可能有數百人.  由於 SSA 以滾動方式重新確定資格,因此推定類別成員的數量將隨著時間的推移而增加。

The plaintiffs are being represented by Vickie L. Henry and Mary L. Bonauto of GLAD, Gerald McIntyre, Denny Chan and Anna Rich of Justice in Aging, and Claire Laporte, Marco Quina, Catherine Deneke, and Stephen T. Bychowski of the law firm Foley Hoag, LLP.

Held v. Colvin Fact Sheet

訊息

An open letter from LGBTQ organizations in the United States regarding the epidemic violence that LGBTQ people, particularly transgender women of color, have experienced in 2015.

We appear to be in a moment of crisis in LGBTQ communities.  Unfortunately, this is not new: our movement was born out of a response to violence and police raids, and trans women of color were at the forefront of this resistance.  Violence remains a life or death issue for far too many in our communities.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has responded to 14 LGBTQ homicides in 2015To the best of NCAVP’s knowledge, eight of the incidents have been intimate partner, family or stalking violence-related and six have been hate or police violence-related.  One homicide appears to be either hook-up violence or intimate partner violence but the facts of the case are still not clear.

Seven of these were homicides of transgender women of color:

  • Kentucky:  Papi Edwards, a transgender woman of color, who was shot on January 9 in an apparent hate violence homicide.
  • Virginia: Lamia Beard was found shot to death on January 17 in an apparent hate violence homicide.
  • Texas: Ty Underwood was found shot to death early Monday morning on January 26 in an apparent hate violence homicide.
  • California: Yazmin Vash Payne was discovered fatally stabbed to death on Saturday, January 31st, in an apparent intimate partner violence homicide; Payne’s boyfriend, Ezekiel Dear, has been arrested and booked for suspicion of murder in connection with her death.
  • California: Taja Gabrielle de Jesus was discovered stabbed to death on a stairwell in San Francisco’s Bayview District on Sunday, February 1st in an apparent hate violence homicide.
  • Louisiana: Penny Proud was found fatally shot on February 10 in an apparent hate violence homicide.
  • 佛羅裡達: Kristina Gomez Reinwald was found unresponsive in her home on February 15 and police are investigating this as an intimate partner violence homicide.

One of these homicides involved a person with as yet an unconfirmed sexual orientation and gender identity:

  • Ohio: An individual with the last name Golec was allegedly stabbed by their father on February 13 in an apparent family violence homicide.

Six of these homicides involved lesbian, gay or queer identified people:

  • New York:  Randy J. Bent was found stabbed and set on fire in an apparent pick up violence homicide on March 8, 2015.
  • 馬薩諸塞州: Omar Mendez was found stabbed to death in his home in an apparent intimate partner violence homicide on February 15.
  • 馬薩諸塞州: Lisa Trubnikova was allegedly killed on February 5 in an apparent stalking homicide.
  • Colorado: Jessie Hernandez 曾是 killed by the police on January 26.
  • Georgia: Ashley Belle was killed on January 26 and her partner was charged with the crime in an apparent intimate partner violence homicide.
  • New York:  Cassandra Keels was killed on January 18 in an apparent intimate partner violence homicide and her girlfriend has been arrested.

In NCAVP’s most recent Hate Violence Report, almost 90% of all homicide victims were people of color. Further, almost three-quarters (72%) of these homicide victims were transgender women, and more than two-thirds (67%) were transgender women of color. In NCAVP’s most recent Intimate Partner Violence Report, LGBTQ and HIV-affected people of color made up the majority of survivors – and have for the past three years. The 2013 report also found that LGBTQ and HIV-affected people of color were more likely to experience IPV incidents in public spaces, perhaps an indication that LGBTQ people of color’s lives are more policed and harassed in the public sphere.

Violence is complex, and requires multiple strategies to prevent and end it.  This includes prevention and awareness efforts to change our culture, more social support for transgender people, and addressing poverty, discrimination, housing instability, criminalization, family separation, unemployment, and trauma. It is no longer simply enough to say “transphobic, biphobic, and homophobic violence and homicides are wrong.”

If vulnerability to violence occurs at the intersections of people’s identities, so, then, should our responses that will prevent this violence. We cannot expect a singular response to address or prevent this violence. Our responses must be multi-dimensional and contemporaneous.  We, the undersigned organizations, are committed to the safety and self-determination of LGBTQ people from all communities, and to dismantling the conditions that support violence in all its forms.

We believe the following actions must be taken to stop this violence:

  • Public officials, community leaders, and the public at large must acknowledge LGBTQ lives are valuable, and that transgender women of color exist, and must speak out against violence when it occurs.
  • Public officials and policymakers should act swiftly to address the day-to-day discrimination that LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people of color, experience, and the impact this discrimination has, including increased rates of poverty, housing instability, unemployment and trauma.
  • Law enforcement and media must respectfully and accurately identify victims of violence with names and pronouns in line with their current gender identity.
  • Law enforcement and the media must stop criminalizing LGBTQ people, particularly transgender women of color, in their deaths by reporting on past alleged criminal activity or showing pictures that suggest criminality.

We also need to take action to address this violence. Public awareness ads, such as AVP’s Born to Be Campaign, can show positive, affirming images of transgender and gender non-conforming folks. The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) 100 Black LGBTQ/SGL Emerging Leaders to Watch Campaign is working to empower young Black leaders to mobilize in their communities to make positive changes throughout the nation. Programs like Audre Lorde Project’s TransJusticeSafe OUTSide the System Collective in New York City, Casa Ruby in Washington, DC, and BreakOUT! in New Orleans, and the Translatina Coalition, to name a few, lift up the voices of trans women of color and respects and supports their leadership. Non-discrimination protections, in employment, housing, public accommodations and other areas are critical to protecting LGBT people legally.

We commit, as LGBTQ organizations throughout the United States, to take on this work.  We commit to holding public leaders and institutions accountable for their response to this violence.  We commit to keep speaking the names of the victims – and those of the survivors – and encourage and support the leadership of transgender women of color as those most impacted by this violence.  We commit to doing everything we can to end this violence.

簽名,

大聲相信
BiNet 美國
Center For Black Equity, Inc.
CenterLink:LGBT中心社區
平等聯盟
家庭平等委員會
FORGE
男女同性戀倡議者和捍衛者
獲取相等
同性戀反歧視聯盟
GLMA:促進LGBT平等的衛生專業人員
格森
人權運動
移民平等
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
Lambda 法律
Movement Advancement Project.
全國黑人正義聯盟
全國女同性戀權利中心
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP)
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce®
全國 LGBTQ 工作小組
全國酷兒亞太島民聯盟(NQAPIA)
NCAVP Movement Building Committee:

API Chaya
BreakOUT!
BSEEDZ
Casa Ruby
Colorado Anti-Violence Program
Disability Justice Collective
LaGender Inc.
Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Racial Justice Action Center
Ruth Ellis Center
Solutions NOT Punishment Coalition
Trans(forming)

平等工作場所倡議者
Pride at Work, AFL-CIO
聖人
Southerners on New Ground (SONG)
The Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
The Pride Network
跨性別法律辯護與教育基金
True Colors Fund

訊息

Washington, D.C., January 16, 2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to review a federal appeals court decision upholding Michigan’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples. By granting the petition filed by Michigan couple April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, the Court will be considering Michigan’s ban on marriage as well as those in the other states still denying marriage licenses to gay couples. Today’s move means the high Court will rule on the issue of marriage equality by the end of June 2015. The court has also agreed to hear cases from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Friends who supported each other through nursing school and now a committed couple for more than 10 years, DeBoer and Rowse are both hospital nurses and the parents of four special-needs children whom they fostered and then adopted. They originally challenged Michigan’s adoption code so that they could adopt their children jointly rather than as “single” individuals, and provide them the security of having two legal parents. They later challenged the state’s marriage ban since it keeps April and Jayne, as well as the children, from being legally recognized as a family and from the protections other families enjoy. They argue that state laws banning marriage equality violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process.

“We are now that much closer to being fully recognized as a family, and we are thrilled,” said DeBoer. “This opportunity for our case to be heard by the Supreme Court gives us and families like ours so much reason to be hopeful.”

The DeBoer-Rowse family is represented by Michigan attorneys Carole M. Stanyar; Dana Nessel of Nessel and Kessel Law; Kenneth Mogill of Mogill, Posner & Cohen; Wayne State University Law Professor Robert Sedler; and Mary Bonauto of the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).

“By choosing to hear the DeBoer case, the Court now has the opportunity to end the injustices facing gay families in Michigan and so many other states, and to ensure that same-sex couples nationwide are free to move for work, school, or to care for elderly parents without jeopardizing their family’s security,” said Nessel.

“Our families, communities and the schools all see us as a family, said Rowse. “We juggle our jobs and a houseful of children and wouldn’t have it any other way. Soon, we hope to have the same recognition and share the same protections and responsibilities as all other families.”

DeBoer et al v. Snyder was the only case to go to trial among dozens decided or pending nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 溫莎訴美國案 in June 2013.  In a nine-day trial in February and March of 2014, Michigan District Court Judge Bernard A. Freidman heard expert testimony from the nation’s leading psychologists, sociologists, child welfare professionals, and historians. In a ruling on March 21, Judge Freidman struck down Michigan’s ban on marriages and “any similar union,” concluding the state “may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples” and “the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.” The state immediately filed an appeal, but in the interim, hundreds of couples in Michigan were legally married.

Multiple other court rulings since 溫莎 have established marriage equality as the governing law. In October 2014, the Supreme Court declined to review rulings by the Fourth, Seventh and Tenth Circuits that all found state marriage bans unconstitutional.

On November 6, 2014, two judges of the three-member panel in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Friedman’s decision and those of courts in Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky. Within weeks, attorneys for DeBoer and Rowse filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court.

“Families like April and Jayne’s have been deprived of the status, dignity, security, and stability that marriage brings for far too long,” said Stanyar. “This Court should hold that prohibiting same-sex couples from joining in marriage violates our nation’s most cherished and essential guarantees.”

Bonauto reflected on the long struggle for marriage equality in the United States, asserting “In the 10-plus years since same-sex couples started marrying in Massachusetts, thousands more have been able to marry across the United States, bringing them happiness and security — and harming no one,” said Bonauto. “It is time to end the legal bans that single out same-sex couples for disrespect and instead allow them to make this unique promise to one another and provide greater protection and security for their families.”

To download the original petition filed in the Supreme Court please visit http://nationalmarriagechallenge.com/the-case/court-docs/

About National Marriage Challenge

National Marriage Challenge, formerly Michigan Marriage Challenge, is a non-profit organization run by local Michigan residents committed to marriage equality in Michigan and across the country. National Marriage Challenge is an accredited 501(c)(3) formed for the purpose of supporting the DeBoer-Rowse Family in their legal effort. 100% of contributions to National Marriage Challenge go towards litigation and education expenses on DeBoer v Snyder.  For more information about the case, or to contribute, please visit www.NationalMarriageChallenge.com.

About Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders

Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.  GLAD’s litigation in 古德里奇訴公共衛生部 (2003) made Massachusetts the first U.S. state in which same-sex couples could legally marry.

部落格

Washington, D.C., January 16, 2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to review a federal appeals court decision upholding Michigan’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples. By granting the petition filed by Michigan couple April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, the Court will be considering Michigan’s ban on marriage as well as those in the other states still denying marriage licenses to gay couples. Today’s move means the high Court will rule on the issue of marriage equality by the end of June 2015. The court has also agreed to hear cases from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Friends who supported each other through nursing school and now a committed couple for more than 10 years, DeBoer and Rowse are both hospital nurses and the parents of four special-needs children whom they fostered and then adopted. They originally challenged Michigan’s adoption code so that they could adopt their children jointly rather than as “single” individuals, and provide them the security of having two legal parents. They later challenged the state’s marriage ban since it keeps April and Jayne, as well as the children, from being legally recognized as a family and from the protections other families enjoy. They argue that state laws banning marriage equality violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process.

DeBoer and Rowse with three of their children

“We are now that much closer to being fully recognized as a family, and we are thrilled,” said DeBoer. “This opportunity for our case to be heard by the Supreme Court gives us and families like ours so much reason to be hopeful.”

The DeBoer-Rowse family is represented by Michigan attorneys Carole M. Stanyar; Dana Nessel of Nessel and Kessel Law; Kenneth Mogill of Mogill, Posner & Cohen; Wayne State University Law Professor Robert Sedler; and Mary Bonauto of the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).

“By choosing to hear the DeBoer case, the Court now has the opportunity to end the injustices facing gay families in Michigan and so many other states, and to ensure that same-sex couples nationwide are free to move for work, school, or to care for elderly parents without jeopardizing their family’s security,” said Nessel.

“Our families, communities and the schools all see us as a family, said Rowse. “We juggle our jobs and a houseful of children and wouldn’t have it any other way. Soon, we hope to have the same recognition and share the same protections and responsibilities as all other families.”

DeBoer et al v. Snyder was the only case to go to trial among dozens decided or pending nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 溫莎訴美國案 in June 2013.  In a nine-day trial in February and March of 2014, Michigan District Court Judge Bernard A. Freidman heard expert testimony from the nation’s leading psychologists, sociologists, child welfare professionals, and historians. In a ruling on March 21, Judge Freidman struck down Michigan’s ban on marriages and “any similar union,” concluding the state “may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples” and “the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.” The state immediately filed an appeal, but in the interim, hundreds of couples in Michigan were legally married.

Multiple other court rulings since 溫莎 have established marriage equality as the governing law. In October 2014, the Supreme Court declined to review rulings by the Fourth, Seventh and Tenth Circuits that all found state marriage bans unconstitutional.

On November 6, 2014, two judges of the three-member panel in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Friedman’s decision and those of courts in Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky. Within weeks, attorneys for DeBoer and Rowse filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court.

“Families like April and Jayne’s have been deprived of the status, dignity, security, and stability that marriage brings for far too long,” said Stanyar. “This Court should hold that prohibiting same-sex couples from joining in marriage violates our nation’s most cherished and essential guarantees.”

Bonauto reflected on the long struggle for marriage equality in the United States, asserting “In the 10-plus years since same-sex couples started marrying in Massachusetts, thousands more have been able to marry across the United States, bringing them happiness and security — and harming no one,” said Bonauto. “It is time to end the legal bans that single out same-sex couples for disrespect and instead allow them to make this unique promise to one another and provide greater protection and security for their families.”

To download the original petition filed in the Supreme Court please visit http://nationalmarriagechallenge.com/the-case/court-docs/

About National Marriage Challenge

National Marriage Challenge, formerly Michigan Marriage Challenge, is a non-profit organization run by local Michigan residents committed to marriage equality in Michigan and across the country. National Marriage Challenge is an accredited 501(c)(3) formed for the purpose of supporting the DeBoer-Rowse Family in their legal effort. 100% of contributions to National Marriage Challenge go towards litigation and education expenses on DeBoer v Snyder.  For more information about the case, or to contribute, please visit www.NationalMarriageChallenge.com.

About Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders

Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.  GLAD’s litigation in 古德里奇訴公共衛生部 (2003) made Massachusetts the first U.S. state in which same-sex couples could legally marry.

奧貝格費爾訴霍奇斯案:最高法院的婚姻平權

Updated on August 12, 2025:  

在 GLAD Law,我們認識到 Kim Davis 提起訴訟要求最高法院重新考慮 Obergefell. 然而,鑑於戴維斯訴求的範圍極為狹窄,最高法院有充分的理由拒絕審理此案。

 Kim Davis 的案子是 極為狹窄,她的論點已被第六巡迴上訴法院駁回不只一次。此事的起因是,十年前,她擔任縣政府官員時,指示整個辦公室拒絕向同性伴侶發放結婚證書,而不是按照工作要求遵守法律。下級法院最終判決,一對屢次被拒發結婚證書的夫婦獲得精神損害賠償。戴維斯的法律團隊正試圖強行爭取重新提起訴訟的機會。 奧貝格費爾 這對夫婦是否有權獲得這些賠償,這是一個非常狹隘的法律問題。今年早些時候,第六巡迴上訴法院就同樣的訴訟請求對她做出了不利的判決,隨後全院法官駁回了她重新審理案件的請求。 各行各業、各個政治派別的人們都支持婚姻平權,或對婚姻平權採取寬容的態度,並希望關注其他議題。 最高法院有充分理由拒絕審查此案,而不是擾亂婚姻平等這一對夫妻、孩子、家庭和整個社會如此積極的事情。

Mary Bonauto,GLAD Law 民權和法律策略高級總監,Obergefell v. Hodges 的辯護律師之一

婚姻為夫妻及其家庭提供深厚的保護。這讓他們可以一起規劃生活,如果他們願意的話, 撫養孩子.今年標誌著 全國婚姻平權十年。 勝利 奧貝格費爾 這既不是故事的開始,也不是故事的結束。 GLAD Law 將繼續為保護所有家庭的婚姻平權而奮鬥。  

For more information visit 婚姻平權:為何重要、我們如何取得勝利、未來之路

如果您正在尋找資訊來提供為您的家人提供額外的安全保障,請造訪我們的指南:  


2015年6月26日:勝利!

美國何時將同性婚姻合法化?

2015年6月26日,美國最高法院裁定,無論居住在哪裡,同性伴侶均享有與異性伴侶同等的合法結婚權利,這在美國法律和文化領域都具有里程碑式的意義。這項具有變革意義的裁決,標誌著LGBTQ+群體爭取平等權利的過程中邁出了重要的一步。 進一步了解我們對這歷史性時刻的反應。

GLAD Law Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto argued before the U.S. Supreme Court April 28, 2015 on behalf of same-sex couples who are challenged their states’ marriage bans. She stood on behalf of petitioners April DeBoer 和 Jayne Rowse 在密西根州的案件中 德波爾訴斯奈德案 以及肯塔基州案件中的蒂莫西·洛夫 (Timothy Love)、勞倫斯·伊松扎 (Lawrence Ysunza)、莫里斯·布蘭查德 (Maurice Blanchard) 和多米尼克·詹姆斯 (Dominique James) 洛夫訴貝希爾案 (加入 伯克訴貝希爾案) 以及全國各地被禁止結婚的同性伴侶。

Ropes & Gray LLP律師事務所合夥人道格拉斯·霍爾沃德-德里邁爾(Douglas Hallward-Driemeier)代表原告尋求婚姻的承認。了解更多 這裡.

The Supreme Court ruling came in consideration of several combined marriage cases. Kentucky petitioners 提摩西·洛夫和勞倫斯·伊松扎莫里斯·布蘭查德和多米尼克·詹姆斯 代理方包括美國公民自由聯盟 (ACLU)、史丹佛法學院最高法院訴訟診所、Clay Daniel Walton & Adams 律師事務所以及 Fauver 律師事務所。了解更多 這裡。

GLAD Law was co-counsel in 德波爾訴斯奈德案以及密西根州律師Carole Stanyar、Nessel & Kessel律師事務所的Dana Nessel、Mogill, Posner & Cohen律師事務所的Kenneth Mogill以及韋恩州立大學法學教授Robert Sedler。了解更多關於April和Jane以及她們對密西根州婚姻禁令的挑戰的故事。 這裡這裡.

奧貝格費爾訴霍奇斯案 和 亨利訴霍奇斯案 由俄亥俄州的 Lambda Legal 和私人律師提起;並且 Tanco訴Haslam, 由 NCLR 和田納西州的私人律師提起。

11月14日,密西根州夫婦April DeBoer和Jayne Rowse的律師提交了一份請願書,請求美國最高法院審理他們的案件,尋求推翻第六巡迴上訴法院維持密西根州、肯塔基州、俄亥俄州和田納西州禁止同性伴侶結婚的裁決。 April DeBoer和Jayne Rowse都是護士,她們撫養和領養了四個孩子,目前正在撫養第五個孩子。她們彼此深愛,也愛自己的孩子,她們應該能夠結婚。

2014 年 3 月,經過兩週的庭審,聽取了來自全國頂尖心理學家、社會學家、兒童福利專家和歷史學家的專家證詞,美國地區法院法官伯納德·弗里德曼裁定,密西根州禁止同性伴侶結婚的法律違憲。

In a departure from nearly 50 pro-marriage decisions across the U.S. since June 2013, a three-member panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ issued its opinion on November 6, 2014 reversing Judge Friedman’s ruling, along with similar rulings from Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.

April and Jayne with three of their children

婚姻平權觸及並惠及全國各地的社區。我們維持平等的方式之一是探討婚姻對我們和他人的重要性。   

 無論您是已婚夫婦、有 LGBTQ+ 父母、兄弟姐妹、父母、祖父母、家人、朋友、同事或鄰居,我們都很樂意了解您的經歷。 Share your story today. 

訊息

Today, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear pending cases from five states where circuit courts had upheld the freedom to marry and equal treatment of marriages

GLAD’s interim executive director and legal director Gary Buseck issued the following statement:

“Today’s Supreme Court action is fantastic news for the 11 states where same sex couple will soon be able to legally marry.  Couples in 30 states will soon be able to marry and know the joy and security of marriage, and those who are married will be respected as the married people that they are.

“It also means that we must keep working to achieve a national resolution to this issue, whether circuit by circuit or by the Supreme Court’s acceptance of a different case.  GLAD will continue its work to bring marriage equality to every state and every couple.”

One of the cases whose writ of certiorari was denied is Herbert v. Kitchen, the Utah case in which GLAD was counseling, along with private attorney Peggy Tomsic, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Hogan Lovells.

Read more:

Joint statement from GLAD and NCLR

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