NCLR Weighs In on Supreme Court Challenges to Overturn DOMA and Proposition 8

The Supreme Court will decide on the constitutionality of the government’s so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 later this month. The cases being heard are United States v. Windsor (DOMA) and Hollingsworth v. Perry (Proposition 8).  In advance of those oral arguments, today NCLR joined a sea of concerned citizens and organizations in filing friend-of-the-court, or amicus, briefs urging the Court to overturn both DOMA and Proposition 8.

We’re especially proud to be joining our sister organizations, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), as co-signatories to the amicus briefs.  We’ve long known that Latinos support marriage equality for all, but recent polling of our community confirms it.  The Windsor case in particular has many implications for Latinos, not the least being the issue of binational couples who are too often torn apart because of DOMA and our broken immigration system.  The time has come for the Supreme Court to put an end to this debate and compel the federal government to recognize all legal marriages, not just those it chooses to.

NCLR is a proud ally of the LGBT community, and we couldn’t be happier to be among the esteemed signatories on this historic brief.

Below you can read the full briefs.

United States v. Windsor:

Hollingsworth v. Perry

Let us know why you stand for equality in the comments below and be sure to check back here often.  We’ll be providing updates on both Supreme Court cases.