Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Host of LGBT Rights Cases Nov. 20
10/29/2012
http://www.lambdalegal.org/news/us_20121029_supreme-court-to(Washington – October 29, 2012) -- The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will consider at its conference on November 20 whether to grant review in several LGBT rights cases now before the Court. Two Lambda Legal cases are up for review, our challenge to the provision of the so-called federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that treats married same-sex couples as single for federal law purposes, and the State of Arizona's appeal in Lambda Legal's thus-far successful effort to preserve health care benefits for lesbian and gay state employees.
Jon Davidson, Legal Director for Lambda Legal, issued the following statement:
"We look forward to hearing from the Supreme Court whether our challenge and/or the challenges of our sister organizations to the core of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act will be heard, which is the next step in the long path we have all traveled to put this discriminatory and onerous law out of its – and our – misery. So far eight courts, including two federal Courts of Appeal, have found Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional. We are confident the Supreme Court, upon review of these well-reasoned decisions, will decide likewise and married same-sex couples will no longer be denied equal treatment by our federal government.
