Family Equality Council Turns to the Future after Disappointing Prop 8 Ruling

Family Equality Council Turns to the Future after Disappointing Prop 8 Ruling

Statement from Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler;
Media Interviews Available

Boston, MA — Today the California Supreme Court issued a disappointing ruling in Strauss v. Horton, commonly know as the "Prop 8 Case." The Court's ruling upholds Prop 8, which eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Despite upholding Prop 8, the Court rightly left intact thousands of same-sex marriages performed prior to Prop 8's passage last November. With the existence of these marriages and the incredible tidal wave of support for marriage equality since Prop 8 passed, advocates for equality are convinced that Prop 8 will be overturned at the ballot.

The Family Equality Council is amici in Strauss v. Horton in a brief outlining the specific social and economic harm Prop 8 causes children with LGBT parents.

Statement of Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director, Family Equality Council:

“Today's disappointing ruling from the California Supreme Court underscores how incredibly important it is for LGBT people, especially parents, to continue telling our stories, connecting with other families about our shared hopes, dreams and concerns, changing hearts and minds," said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality Council. "Our visibility and actions as a community have resulted in a seventeen point gain in just five years in support of marriage equality nationwide. Our responses to the Court's ruling will build on that momentum. LGBT parents know concretely how inequality hurts our families. We will continue working for full equality because our families deserve nothing less. It's a lesson we get to teach our children—through struggle comes progress—and so we look to the future and prepare to make marriage a reality for our families in California once again. As an ever-growing community of LGBT parents, family and friends, we will close this chapter on American history with justice and equality at the end."

EDITORS: To book an interview with Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, please call or email the media contacts listed above.

About the Family Equality Council
The Family Equality Council works to ensure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families by building community, changing hearts and minds, and advancing social justice for all families. For more information, visit www.familyequality.org.

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