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History at the Supreme Court: Day 2

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March 27, 2013
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Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart
Edie Windsor had her day in the U.S. Supreme Court today—and she stood courageously for all of us.
 
The federal government must stop discriminating against married same-sex couples. The so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional, and must finally be struck down.
 
Three of Lambda Legal’s expert attorneys were in the courtroom to witness history.
 
After successfully challenging the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA in our own case before a federal appeals court on behalf of Karen Golinski, we also submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in this case with our colleagues from GLAD.
 
We argued that DOMA is a recipe for discrimination: It targets a particular group disliked at the time of its passage, affects important personal interests, and represents a one-time departure from usual federal policy and practice. It’s clearly a violation of equal protection guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
 
Congratulations to our colleagues at the ACLU, who did a great job representing Edie and arguing for the end of DOMA. The U.S. Department of Justice is on our side, and also argued forcefully today that it is unconstitutional for the government to treat married same-sex couples as if they were not married. 
 
This has been an amazing week for our movement and our country. But great historical moments like these do not just happen—they are built upon years of strategic work. When Lambda Legal won a thrilling victory at the Supreme Court 10 years ago, we knew it was the end of one legal chapter and the beginning of a new one—and we kept working.
 
After the Court rules on these two momentous cases this term, there will still be lots of critical work to be done for LGBT people and people with HIV around the country. You can count on us—we’ll be leading the fight.