March, 05 2009, 03:44pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Vaishalee Raja, Communications Director,PHONE: (916) 284-9187,EMAIL:,vaishalee@eqca.org
EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors on Prop 8 Legal Challenge
Equality
California (EQCA) Executive Director Geoff Kors released the following
statement regarding today's oral arguments asking the California
Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8.
"Last
November, a simple majority of California voters passed Proposition 8
and took away a fundamental right from a minority group. If allowed to
stand, Prop. 8 will prove to be a great deal more insidious than most
voters ever realized.
SAN FRANCISCO
Equality
California (EQCA) Executive Director Geoff Kors released the following
statement regarding today's oral arguments asking the California
Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8.
"Last
November, a simple majority of California voters passed Proposition 8
and took away a fundamental right from a minority group. If allowed to
stand, Prop. 8 will prove to be a great deal more insidious than most
voters ever realized.
"By taking away a fundamental right from one group, Prop. 8 destroys
the fundamental principle of equal protection - a principle codified in
our Constitution and intended to protect minority groups from the
oppression of the majority. Without the right to equal protection,
every Californian risks discrimination at the ballot box.
"Equality California has sued on behalf of our members to invalidate
Prop. 8. Today, our team of attorneys, led by the National Center for
Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU, argued that Prop. 8 usurps
the guarantee of equal protection and bypasses our legal safeguards.
More than 300 leading civil rights organizations, legal scholars, and
faith leaders submitted amicus briefs to the court, indicating their
support of our argument. And this week, the state Assembly and state
Senate passed resolutions stating their belief that Prop. 8 is an
invalid revision to the Constitution.
"But victory in the courts is far from certain and no matter the
outcome, the work to achieve acceptance and understanding must
continue. Prop. 8 showed how much work there is left to be done and
invalidating that discriminatory, unconstitutional amendment is just
the beginning.
"Last year, the Supreme Court of California guaranteed the right to
marry for same-sex couples. This year, they must do what is right again
and invalidate Prop. 8. Regardless of the decision, we must do our
part. We must continue our struggle until all LGBT people across
California and the world will realize full and total equality."
Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians.
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