Rep. Mark Takano Joins More Than 200 Congressional Democrats On SCOTUS Brief in Support of Marriage Equality
Washington DC - Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) joined 166 other members of the United States House of Representatives and 44 Senators in filing a brief with the United States Supreme Court today. The amici curiae filed by the members of Congress calls on the Supreme Court to rule in favor of marriage equality in the cases to be heard by the Court in April.
“It is time for the Court to complete the important work that it began with the Windsordecision in 2013 and bring marriage equality to every state of our union. Today, most Americans live in communities where marriage equality is a reality, and have seen that LGBT Americans and their families are worthy of equality under the law. I am proud to be from one of the 37 states where marriage equality is already the law, and join my colleagues in calling on the Supreme Court to extend to every LGBT American the freedom to marry we enjoy in California,” said Rep. Takano.
In 2013, Rep. Takano joined Democratic members of the House and Senate in filing an amici curiae asking the Supreme Court to strike down sections of the “Defense of Marriage” Act that prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages in the case of United States v Windsor. The Court’s landmark decision inWindsor has led lower courts to strike down dozens of state-level bans on same-sex marriage. The case to be heard by the Supreme Court in April, Obergefell, et al., v. Hodges, et al., has the potential to overturn the remaining barriers to nationwide recognition of marriage equality.