Lambda Legal Says Bill Passed in the House Today (July 22) Is a 'Patently Unconstitutional' Attempt To Block Gay People Out of the Justice System
(New York, July 22, 2004) -- Lambda Legal today issued the following statement on legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that attempts to single out lesbian and gay Americans to block them out of the country's justice system. The legislation, H.R. 3313, would prevent any federal court from hearing cross-state recognition challenges to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. The statement is from Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal.
"Today, the House of Representatives voted to ignore our Constitution and our centuries-old system of government. In attacking both gay people and the historic role of the courts, this bill clearly violates our Constitution and will never be allowed to stand.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has been clear that laws cannot single out gay people and treat us as second-class citizens, which is exactly what this bill tries to do. The right wing's efforts to rewrite the Constitution failed earlier this month, so now they're trying to undermine our government's system of checks and balances and disenfranchise gay couples who aren't a threat to anyone else.
"If this bill ever passes both houses of Congress and is signed into law, we'll make sure that it takes its proper place alongside other discriminatory laws that have been struck down as unconstitutional. The bill that passed in the House today will end up in the dustbin of other attempts to treat gay people as second-class citizens, which future generations will look back at with curiosity and embarrassment."
Lambda Legal, the nation's largest and oldest legal organization for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV, won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court victory last year that struck down laws that prohibited consensual sex between adults and mandated dignity and equal treatment for LGBT Americans.