California's Marriage Ban is Over

Millions of us have been fighting for years – first to stop Prop. 8 from passing, and then to reverse it. Today's victory, while joyous, is a reminder of the long road to win marriage equality nationwide.

Courtesy: news.yahoo.com

(SACRAMENTO, CA) - History was made today as the U.S. Supreme Court held that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, returning marriage equality to California.

In addition to holding Prop. 8 unconstitutional, the Court also invalidated the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – so finally couples in the growing number of marriage equality states will also get the federal rights and benefits they deserve.

And though today will be remembered as a watershed moment in the fight for equality, the Court unfortunately stopped short of a broader decision on the fundamental right to marry.

Millions of us have been fighting for years – first to stop Prop. 8 from passing, and then to reverse it. Today's victory, while joyous, is a reminder of the long road to win marriage equality nationwide.

Those of us who have been working on these cases would not have reached this moment without the courageous plaintiffs, the brilliant legal teams (including Ted Olson, David Boies, Roberta Kaplan, American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the ACLU, and the law firms involved), and all of you.

The coming day will be filled with celebration. But with millions still living without equal rights, we will not stop until every LGBT person – wherever they live – has full equality under the law, including the right to marry the one they love.

Chad Griffin
President

P.S. Interested in the details and how things will play out from here? Check out www.hrc.org/supremecourt to learn more or join our town hall conference call tomorrow night with me and HRC Legal Director Brian Moulton. Click here for details on how to join.

Source: Human Rights Campaign