Gay rights group calls for signatures to send court

WASHINGTON — The nation's largest civil rights group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is launching a signature drive in support of a legal brief calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage bans in Michigan and three other states.

Edie Windsor, the plaintiff whose challenge of the federal Defense of Marriage Act led the Supreme Court in 2013 to bar the U.S. government from treating same-sex marriages differently from others, was to be the first signature on the Human Rights Campaign's friend of the court brief.

Friend of the Court briefs are filed by groups or others who are not direct parties to a case, but who want to provide context or perspective on an issue to be considered by a court.

"When it comes to marriage equality, the Supreme Court has heard from business leaders and elected officials, faith leaders and even the president," said HRC President Chad Griffin. "But, until now, they've never heard from the fair-minded American majority who simply wants to see their LGBT friends and neighbors treated fairly and equally under the law."

The brief — which is to be submitted to the court in advance of an early March deadline — is expected to be one of many entered into the record before oral arguments in April. People who support the HRC's position of overturning the state bans can go to www.hrc.org, read the brief and affix their names to it as part of the submission. The link there should be live by sometime Tuesday .

The HRC's brief, written by lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who represented Windsor, calls on the court to overturn the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld bans in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

The Supreme Court agreed last month to hear the appeal. If the court overturns the bans, it could potentially reverse other bans across the country. If it were to uphold the bans, however, it would deal a severe blow to efforts to legalize same-sex marriage across the nation. At present, there is a hodgepodge of conflicting laws and opinions to be settled.

Two Hazel Park nurses, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, brought the case in Michigan, arguing that the state's 2004 ban, which was approved by 59% of the voters, violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

In agreeing to hear the cases, the Supreme Court limited the questions to whether a state must license a marriage to same-sex couples under constitutional protections and whether a state must recognize a lawfully licensed same-sex marriage performed elsewhere.

In its brief, the HRC argues it's constitutionally impermissible for a state to enact a law based on negative attitudes or bias directed against a class of people and that the texts of the bans — as well as their impact — do so by suggesting that same-sex couple are somehow less successful as families or caregivers for children.

"The Supreme Court has made it clear that laws passed based upon a desire to discriminate against gay people offend the equal protection principles," Kaplan said. "Such laws treat gay people as second class citizens — exactly what the 14th Amendment prohibits."

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has been arguing in defense of Michigan's marriage ban, saying that it represents the will of the people of the state and that it should be left to them to decide whether same-sex marriages should be recognized or not.

HRC said it will collect signatures on its brief for the next four weeks and has a social media and online advertising campaign planned to encourage marriage equality supporters to visit a webpage where they can sign the brief.

Contact Todd Spangler at 703-854-8947 or at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on twitter at @tsspangler.

Where to sign same-sex marriage brief

To review the Human Rights Campaign's brief calling for same-sex marriage bans in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee to be overturned, go to www.hrc.org. The link there should be live sometime Tuesday. The HRC plans to submit the brief in about four weeks.