DAVID BOIES EXPLAINS REASONS FOR OVERTURNING PROPOSITION 8

The announcement last May that attorneys David Boies (left) and Ted Olson will be filing a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 was met with strong skepticism and resistance from some in the GLBT community. Many felt that a lawsuit now, with the current make-up of the Supreme Court, could not be successful and might even hurt efforts to put a measure to overturn Prop 8 on the 2010 ballot. The arguments/discussions have been ongoing ever since.

To explain the reasoning behind their lawsuit, Mr. Boies wrote an excellent opinion piece in the July 20th edition of the Wall Street Journal.

He opened the article by saying:

When I got married in California in 1959 there were almost 20 states where marriage was limited to two people of different sexes and the same race. Eight years later the Supreme Court unanimously declared state bans on interracial marriage unconstitutional.

For those of you who forgot or may not know, Boies and Olson are the two opposing lead attorneys who argued the cases of the election results in the now infamous 2000 presidential election.

Boies went on to say:

Recently, Ted Olson and I brought a lawsuit asking the courts to now declare unconstitutional California's Proposition 8 limitation of marriage to people of the opposite sex. We acted together because of our mutual commitment to the importance of this cause, and to emphasize that this is not a Republican or Democratic issue, not a liberal or conservative issue, but an issue of enforcing our Constitution's guarantee of equal protection and due process to all citizens.

Near the end of his piece, he said:

There are those who sincerely believe that homosexuality is inconsistent with their religion -- and the First Amendment guarantees their freedom of belief. However, the same First Amendment, as well as the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses, preclude the enshrinement of their religious-based disapproval in state law.

Gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters, our teachers and doctors, our friends and neighbors, our parents and children. It is time, indeed past time, that we accord them the basic human right to marry the person they love. It is time, indeed past time, that our Constitution fulfill its promise of equal protection and due process for all citizens by now eliminating the last remnant of centuries of misguided state discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Overall, this is one of the strongest and most cogent arguments for allowing gay marriages I've ever seen. It's well worth taking a few minutes of your time to read the whole article. Click here to go there.

I couldn't agree with him more and I wholeheartedly support their efforts.