SAN FRANCISCO (March 14, 2005)—A California state court ruled today that the California Constitution requires the state to permit same-sex couples to marry. David C. Codell is co-counsel with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the ACLU, and Lambda Legal on behalf of plaintiffs Equality California, Our Family Coalition, and twelve same-sex couples seeking the right to marry.
The court ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor on two central arguments: denying same-sex couples the right to marry is impermissible gender discrimination and violates the fundamental right to marry.
"Couples who have made a commitment in life deserve the legal commitment to match," said Shannon Minter, NCLR’s Legal Director. "This historic ruling affirms the state constitution’s promise of equality and fairness for all people. The court recognized that when the government denies lesbians and gay men the right to marry, it is treating them unequally."
"Today we are one giant step closer to true equality for all California families," said Geoffrey Kors, Executive Director of Equality California. "The court recognized that the government has no business putting obstacles in the path of people who are seeking to care for their loved ones. Today’s ruling affirms that lesbian and gay couples have the same need for the legal protections of marriage, and the same right to equal protection and dignity under the law."
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera also filed an action challenging the constitutionality of excluding same-sex couples from the right to marry. The two actions were consolidated last year. California is the only state in which a municipality has joined with same-sex couples in seeking marriage equality.
David Codell formerly served as Vice President of Equality California. Founded in 1998, Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure the dignity, safety, equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. Equality California is one of the largest and fastest growing statewide LGBT organizations in the country. For more information, please visit Equality California's website: www.eqca.org.
