Lambda Legal Sends Analysis to Senate Judiciary Committee Prior to Kagan Hearings

(New York, June 25, 2010) — Today, Lambda Legal sent a letter to Senators Leahy and Sessions of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing its views on two issues that may arise during Solicitor General Kagan's confirmation hearings and that directly affect the legal rights of LGBT people and people with HIV: ensuring the appropriate balance between enforcement of antidiscrimination laws and protections for religious freedom; and constitutional protections for the fundamental freedom to marry.

Excerpt from the letter on religious freedom and antidiscrimination laws:

"It is of great importance to Lambda Legal and our constituents that any individual who would be appointed to the Supreme Court be willing to follow the precedent ... that there is no exemption available to those with religious objections to compliance with generally-applicable, neutral laws, including laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV in employment, housing or public accommodations. Such discrimination remains sadly prevalent throughout the United States, and permitting those with religious objections to flout laws applicable to all others who enter the commercial sector unjustifiably would impose serious harms on workers, tenants and consumers; open dangerous loopholes to protections against discrimination; and contravene crucial state interests in assuring equality for all."

Excerpt from the letter on marriage for same-sex couples:

"The Supreme Court explained in Lawrence v. Texas (Lambda Legal's landmark victory striking down all sodomy laws in the United States) ... that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals enjoy the same constitutional rights as heterosexuals. In that case, the Supreme Court explained that it had erred 17 years earlier in conceiving the right at stake in an earlier case as a right to 'homosexual sodomy,' and that instead what was at issue was the right all adults enjoy to engage in private sexual intimacy free from unwarranted government intrusion. So, now, same-sex couples seek not a right to 'same-sex' marriage, but instead the right all people are entitled to of choice regarding whether and whom to marry."

Read the letter here.

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