NCLR Legal Update: CA Marriage

"When the dust settles and the pages of history are written, it will not be the
angry defenders of intolerance who have made the difference. That reward will go to
those who dared to step outside the safety of their privacy in order to expose and
rout the prevailing prejudices."
– Retired Bishop John Shelby Spong, Episcopal Diocese of Newark, NJ


October 5, 2006

Dear Friend of NCLR,

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I write to you today as lead counsel in
California’s historic marriage litigation on behalf
of same-sex couples. As you may have heard, the
California Court of Appeal has denied
our challenge to California’s discriminatory
marriage laws. This is not happy news. But it is
also not the end.



We are disappointed. We know that hundreds of
thousands of LGBT people in California were hoping
that the Court of Appeal would affirm the dignity
and equality of our relationships. We have not
lost sight of our
dream of full equality for ourselves and our
families. We are confident that as we pursue the
next steps in bringing the case to the California
Supreme Court, the wisdom of the trial court will
prevail.



NCLR has been at the forefront of this battle
from day one – fighting alongside the San Francisco
City Attorney’s Office to defend the San Francisco
marriages, working with Equality California to draft
the marriage equality bill, and now serving as lead
counsel in Woo v. California on behalf of
same-sex
couples seeking the right to marry in
California. We are joined by our co-counsel
Heller Ehrman, the Law Office of David C. Codell,
Lambda Legal, and the ACLU.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This history-making legal battle would not have been
possible without your generous and unwavering
support. But, as evidenced today, we still have a
long way to go. NCLR has already announced our
intention to appeal this decision and take the case
to the California Supreme Court. We know full
well that our opposition is ready to meet us there,
and we must do everything we can to win that final
step.



As we move into this final phase of the legal
battle, our staff is working overtime to prepare the
winning case. We
invite you to join us by making a contribution to
NCLR in the name of the 4,161 couples who were
married in San Francisco – and all LGBT people and
families – for whom we fight in this case
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=xwnvzybab.0.9hgrbmbab.6jpfohbab.5813&ts=S0206&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhttp://www.nclrights.org%2Fdonations.htm).
In
doing so, you not only strengthen our case, you
become a participant in the landmark case that will
help to do away with one of the last legally
sanctioned forms of discrimination that exist today.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sincerely,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kate Kendell, Executive Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights

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email: kkendell [at] nclrights.org
phone: 415.392.6257
web: http://www.nclrights.org

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