For Immediate Release



Contact:

Merrill Miller, 202-238-9088 ext. 105, merrillmiller@americanhumanist.org

(Washington, D.C., June 26, 2015)—The American Humanist Association applauds the United States Supreme Court for upholding the rights of same-sex couples in its ruling on the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case.

“Our country is finally moving beyond outdated, religious definitions of marriage,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. “This is a victory for all LGBTQ Americans and allies who fought vigorously against discrimination.”

In March, the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center submitted an amicus curiae brief with the Center for Inquiry on behalf of the petitioners in Obergefell v. Hodges. The brief stated that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment gave same-sex couples the right to marry. It also declared that arguments against marriage equality had an inherent basis in religious descriptions of marriage, meaning that bans against marriage for same-sex couples violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

A copy of the brief can be viewed here, and more information about the American Humanist Association’s advocacy on behalf of same-sex marriage through its LGBTQ Humanist Council can be found here.

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Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming philosophy of humanism, which—without beliefs in any gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

Special thanks to the Louis J. Appignani Foundation for their support of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center.