An amicus brief filed today by the Campaign for Southern Equality and the Equality Federation calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to act quickly to ensure the freedom to marry across the nation. The brief focuses on the reality that gay and lesbian Southerners do not yet possess the political power to achieve equality through the legislative process, despite growing public support for marriage equality.
Unfolding developments in Alabama demonstrate the need for swift action from the Supreme Court as detailed in the brief:
“On March 3, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court – comprised of elected judges – defied a federal court order and halted the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples with a clear invitation to this Court: ‘we defer only to the holdings of the United States Supreme Court and our own interpretations of federal law.’”
“Despite growing public support for legal rights, gay people – especially here in the South – remain politically powerless to change discriminatory state laws. The Supreme Court should not – and constitutionally cannot – wait for political will to match the private courage of gay people to protect the freedom to marry of all Americans,” says Meghann Burke, an attorney at Brazil & Burke and CSE’s Legal Team Leader.
The brief was authored by a legal team that includes attorneys from: Brazil & Burke, P.A., based in Asheville, NC; Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, P.A., based in Miami, FL; Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, PLLC, based in Charlotte, NC; and McDuff & Byrd, based in Jackson, MS.
A clear majority of Americans support marriage equality. Across the South, which is home to one third of all LGBT Americans, support continues to grow, particularly among those under age 30. For example, 58 percent of Mississippi voters under the age of 30 support marriage equality according to 2013 polling. Yet the region remains politically hostile to LGBT equality.
Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, CSE’s executive director, said, “In every Southern town, there are LGBT individuals and and families who urgently need – and desire – the rights and protections that our Constitution promises to all, including the ability to marry the person you love. The wave of anti-LGBT legislation sweeping across the South clearly demonstrates the political animus we face every day. For this reason, the Court must act.”
