Supreme Court Hears Prop 8 Case

Powerful arguments for equality and justice filled the chamber in our nation’s highest court today—and it was thrilling.

The attorneys made it clear that Proposition 8 has visited profound harms on same-sex couples in California, and must be struck down. The justices were very engaged with almost all asking searching questions.

Quite significantly, the lawyer for the proponents of Prop 8 made potentially a very damaging admission when he stated in response to a question from Justice Sonia Sotomayor that he could not think of any justification for treating same-sex couples differently for any circumstance outside of marriage, which argues for the heightened scrutiny standard.

Just 10 years ago to the day, we were here arguing in Lawrence v. Texas against state sodomy statutes and for the right to forge personal relationships without fear of being branded a criminal. Today, same-sex couples came before the Supreme Court to argue that their relationships must be treated equally under the law. We have come so far in this country—but until LGBT people have equality and dignity in every state, we still have far to go.

Listen to the Supreme Court argument, or read the transcript.

Learn more: Marriage at the Supreme Court

Read our blog series "From Sex to Marriage: How We Got From Lawrence v. Texas to the Cases Against DOMA and Prop 8."

Pictured above, our team at the Supreme Court today: Legal Director Jon W. Davidson, Marriage Project Director Camilla Taylor, and Law and Policy Project Director Jennifer C. Pizer. Photo by Syd Peterson.