For immediate release:
Please contact Edward Joy
BALIF Board Member & Community Ambassador
415-608-6727, communityambassador@balif.org

 

Proposition 8- Click here for a PDF of the Press Release

San Francisco Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association Overjoyed at Supreme Court Decision
BALIF joined by 22 minority bar associations

 

June 26, 2013 - San Francisco, California - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Hollingsworth v. Perry that the proponents of Proposition 8 had no standing to assert their position, thus leaving in place the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, holding that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional as applied to California. Proposition 8 is now dead, and same-sex couples will be free to marry in California. Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), the San Francisco Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association, is overjoyed at this result.

 

Today's decision finally terminates a long struggle in California for BALIF and other proponents of marriage equality. BALIF has been committed to overturning Proposition 8 since it was first passed by California voters in 2008, and has participated in the marriage equality fight in virtually every stage of the litigation. BALIF filed an amicus brief in the 2007 California Supreme Court case that declared the prohibition of same-sex marriage a violation of the California Constitution as it then existed. When Prop 8 amended the California Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage and the Hollingsworth v. Perry case was filed to challenge it, BALIF again took an active role in every battle. BALIF filed an amicus brief when the case was in the district court, an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and finally an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

In addition to its actions in court, hundreds of BALIF's members have marched, protested, donated, and lobbied throughout the course of this campaign. We note, however, that the struggle for marriage equality is not over. The Court's decision today means that although same-sex marriage will be permitted in California, our brothers and sisters in the vast majority of other states will still be denied this fundamental right. BALIF will do all it can to help remedy this injustice through judicial, legislative, or electoral means. According to Edward Joy, BALIF Board Member and Community Ambassador, "The Supreme Court came down on the right side of history today. And we have no doubt that marriage equality will ultimately be the law of the land throughout the country, whether through the ballot box or through the courts."

 

BALIF recognizes that although the cause of marriage equality has been central to its mission as an organization over the past decade, we have received tremendous support from our fellow minority bar associations. They have supported us not necessarily because marriage equality is central to their own missions, but because they support the cause of equality for all. BALIF acknowledges and thanks these organizations who have supported marriage equality, and in many cases joined in BALIF amicus briefs throughout this process.

 

DOMA- Click here for a PDF of the Press Release

 

San Francisco Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association is Thrilled with Supreme Court Decision
BALIF joined by 22 minority bar associations

 

June 26, 2013 - San Francisco, California - Today the United State's Supreme Court affirmed the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' opinion in United States v. Windsor, holding that "the principal purpose and the necessary effect of [DOMA] are to demean those persons who are in a lawful same-sex marriage." Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), the San Francisco Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association, is thrilled at this result. Today's decision has far-reaching implications. The Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") is now considered unconstitutional in all of its malevolent aspects, from immigration, to federal benefits, to taxation. Federal law will no longer refuse to recognize marriages valid under state law on the sole basis that those marriages are between partners of the same sex.

 

BALIF has long been involved in the legal movement to overturn DOMA. BALIF filed an amicus brief in a sister case challenging DOMA in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Golinski v. United States Office of Personnel Management. BALIF also joined an amicus brief as a party in the United States v. Windsor U.S. Supreme Court proceedings. BALIF applauds today's decision on DOMA along with the additional rights and respect it affords same-sex couples and LGBT Americans. The DOMA decision coupled with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Proposition 8, means that same-sex California couples now have the right to full marriage equality at both the state and federal level. According to Edward Joy, BALIF Board Member and Community Ambassador, "The Supreme Court came down on the right side of history today. And we have no doubt that marriage equality will ultimately be the law of the land throughout the country, whether through the ballot box or through the courts."

 

BALIF recognizes that although this cause has been central to its mission as an organization over the past decade, we have received tremendous support from our fellow minority bar associations. They have supported us not necessarily because marriage equality is central to their own missions, but because they support the cause of equality for all. BALIF acknowledges and thanks these organizations who have supported marriage equality, and in many cases joined in BALIF amicus briefs throughout this process.

 

These organizations join in BALIF's statement today celebrating today's decision.

 

BALIF, the Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association

Joined by:

Alameda County Bar Association

Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area

Asian American Prosecutors Association

Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley

Black Women Lawyers Association of Northern California

California Minority Counsel Program

California Women Lawyers Association

Charles Houston Bar Association

Co-Chair of East Bay Diversity Bar Coalition, Toni Mims-Cochran

Co-Chairs of Minority Bar Coalition, Lily Wong, Alberto Rosas, David Wei & Mala Sahai

East Bay La Raza Lawyers Association

Filipino Bar Association of Northern California

Iranian American Bar Association

Korean American Bar Association of Northern California

Queen's Bench Bar Association

San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association

San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association's Diversity Committee

Santa Clara County Black Lawyers Association, by Aileen F. Casanave, President

Santa Clara County La Raza Lawyers Association

South Asian Bar Association of Northern California

Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California

Women Lawyers of Alameda County