Legal News

Rights groups tell same-sex couples not to sue for equal rights under federal law

By Jason Siegel

Nine major civil rights groups advised same-sex couples planning to get married in California not to sue over their unequal treatment under federal law or for their right to marry in other states, in a press release issued Monday.

In the release, entitled "Make Change, Not Lawsuits", the ACLU, Lambda Legal and other civil rights groups argue that the best approach to achieving same-sex marriage nationwide is to only focus on state courts and legislatures where they have the best chances, naming Connecticut and Iowa courts as two such places where same-sex marriage cases are being heard.

Monday's release is a more detailed version of one sent out by the ACLU four years ago, entitled "Don't Just Sue the Bastards." Both releases call for patience, under the belief that "the U.S. Supreme Court typically does not get too far ahead of either public opinion or the law in the majority of states," that lost cases will be incredibly difficult to overturn and make it more difficult to lay the groundwork in other states, and that greater tolerance of bisexual, lesbian and gay relationships will follow as same-sex marriages become the norm, even if only in some states.

A recent article by The Mercury News outlines several reasons why same-sex couples could want to sue - tax breaks, difficulty divorcing, no Social Security survivor benefits when a partner dies, immigration issues, inability to declare bankruptcy as a couple, no family leave or company health insurance for a partner as well as (outside of California) inability to name a partner as a legal parent, inheriting a dead spouse's out-of-state estate and in emergency situations.

"A case like this could easily wind up at the U.S. Supreme Court," warn the rights groups, and it "would have little or no chance if your home state doesn?t honor your marriage...unless you had suffered serious harm because of the federal government?s refusal to honor your marriage."

"Lawsuits in defense of gay marriage can backfire, activist groups warn," Los Angeles Times
"Gay newlyweds advised not to sue," San Francisco Chronicle

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on June 11, 2008 (boomark / email).