LAMBDA LEGAL ARCHIVE SITETHIS SITE IS NO LONGER MAINTAINED. TO SEE OUR MOST RECENT CASES AND NEWS, VISITNEW LAMBDALEGAL.ORG

Lesbian and Gay Families and Lambda Legal Speak Out on the 'Real Impact on Real Lives' of Bush-Backed Federal Constitutional Amendment

Find Your State

Know the laws in your state that protect LGBT people and people living with HIV.
February 24, 2004

(New York, Tuesday, February 24, 2004) - Lambda Legal said today that a proposed amendment to the federal Constitution that President Bush announced his support for this morning could take away critical rights and protections from hundreds of thousands of families nationwide and even block them from seeking such protections through the nation’s centuries-old democratic process.


“The kind of amendment President Bush announced his support for today would put families all across America in jeopardy. Same-sex families pose no threat to this country or to other couples. The threat to families is a proposed amendment, which would write discrimination into the Constitution for the first time ever. Our Constitution belongs to every American, and we need to keep it that way. There is no moderate way to amend the Constitution to discriminate against a group of Americans. Amending our Constitution would have a very real impact on real people’s lives,” said Gary Buseck, Legal Director at Lambda Legal.

Illustrating the substantial harm a constitutional amendment banning recognition of same-sex relationships would pose to a wide range of couples and families in all 50 states, Lambda Legal today issued the following statements from clients and community members:

“We can’t fully protect our family if we can’t get married. It’s frightening to think about such an extreme step as changing this nation’s Constitution in order to discriminate against families like ours. We pay New Jersey taxes, support New Jersey’s economy and live under New Jersey’s Constitution. We don’t want to cross state or national borders to get married, which is why we’re working this out here in our own state. We have to at least fight for our family, but the amendment President Bush supports would essentially tell our family sit down and shut up.”
-- Karen and Marcye Nicholson-McFadden, of Aberdeen, New Jersey, who recently celebrated their 14th anniversary together and are raising a 4-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter. The Nicholson-McFaddens are among seven couples Lambda Legal represents in a lawsuit in state court in New Jersey seeking full marriage rights for same-sex New Jersey couples. The case is currently on appeal and will ultimately be decided by the state’s Supreme Court.

“When the love of my life died, I didn’t go out looking for a so-called ‘activist judge,’ and I didn’t get one. I just wanted my case to be heard. My partner died tragically in the prime of our lives, and legally I was treated like a stranger to him. My only option was to go to court, lay out all the facts and ask to have my rights respected. I didn’t know where else to turn. What would President Bush and other politicians have me do instead?”
-- John Langan, of Long Island, New York, whose partner of 15 years died in a New York City hospital after suffering a broken leg in a hit-and-run accident. The hospital tried to block Langan from suing for the wrongful death of his partner, Neal Conrad Spicehandler, saying that because they were gay and unmarried Langan had no legal rights. Lambda Legal represents Langan in his battle in New York state court to be legally respected as a spouse because the couple had a civil union from Vermont. Lambda Legal won in state court, in a ruling the hospital is appealing.

“We already live under a state constitutional amendment blocking any recognition of our relationships. The law here is so extreme that we can’t even go to our legislature and advocate for the most basic protections that other couples take for granted, like making funeral arrangements for each other. Since our legislature can’t even consider giving us basic protections, our citizenship rights are hindered by the state law. We’re working that out here in Nebraska, and it will take some time to see whether our extreme law will stand. We’re already locked out in the cold here, and an amendment to the federal Constitution would send us to Siberia.”
-- Nancy Brink and Maria Perez, of Omaha, Nebraska, who have been together several years and are involved in a lawsuit Lambda Legal and the ACLU are litigating in federal court in Nebraska, challenging that state’s state constitutional amendment barring any recognition of same-sex relationships. That constitutional amendment, which is by far the most extreme in the nation, blocks lesbian and gay people from advocating for even the most basic protections for their families. A federal judge in Nebraska recently rejected the state’s effort to dismiss the lawsuit.

“When my partner died, the coroner refused to turn her body over to me. At the funeral, my late partner’s relatives took our youngest daughter from me and kept us apart for two months. Legally, my daughter and I had no rights. Amending the federal Constitution would cement this discrimination and put thousands of mothers and daughters in the nightmare we faced.”
-- Lydia Ramos, of Los Angeles, whose partner of 14 years died in a car accident, setting off a chain of events that led to her late partner’s relatives taking the 12-year-old girl the couple had raised together since birth. Lambda Legal successfully fought in family court for Lydia to regain permanent custody of her daughter.

Buseck added, “The President is supposed to be the leader of our entire nation, but he is turning his back on that duty by supporting an attempt at such extreme discrimination. Young gay people listening to him today will wonder if they can be part of the American dream when marrying the person they love might never be part of their future. All across the country people are hearing this nation’s leader say it’s a good idea to write discrimination into our nation’s Constitution. Straight or gay, this is deeply troubling for a lot of people, and we’re going to stand with them and fight this attempt to silence and discriminate against our families.”

###

Contact: Eric Ferrero, 212/809-8585 ext. 227; 888/987-1984 (pgr)
Lisa Hardaway, 212/809-8585 ext. 266; 888/987-1971 (pgr)

###

Contact Info

Share