Pro Gay Marriage Lawsuits May Hurt in the End

A conglomerate of nine pro same-sex marriage groups released a memo today stating that it would hurt the gay rights movement in the long term if gay couples sued states of the federal government for their marriages to be recognized outside of California because. Such action could open the door to bad court rulings.

“Pushing the federal government before we have a critical mass of states recognizing same-sex relationships or suing in states where the courts aren’t ready is likely to get us bad rulings,” the document stated. Instead, they say they will press states and courts that are already friendly to the issue and ready "to do the right thing."


The group anticipates such lawsuits because California, unlike Massachusetts, has no language prohibiting out-of-state couples to wed. The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog explores the issue:

But non-California couples may return home to decidedly unfavorably legal landscapes. For instance, to wind down a relationship, writes Koppel, same-sex couples could have to navigate a process that forces them to appear in three different courts, including a civil court that treats the separation as a business breakup. Mitchell Katine, an attorney who handles same-sex separations, says: “It’s not fair to parties to have their relationship of 20 years treated like a breakup of two people who operated a Kinko’s.”

A bump in travel reservations and wedding plans has boosted certain sectors of the state's economy as tens of thousands of couples plan their trips to the Golden State.

"Make Change, Not Lawsuits" is a joint advisory put released by the ACLU, GLAD, Lambda Legal, Nat. Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality Federation, Freedom to Marry, GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign and Nat. Gay and Lesbian Taskforce. Read more!