In Brief: Triple Victory

Last week was a momentous one for LGBT people, and we at Lambda Legal are working double-time to field questions about what it all means.

Wednesday the 23rd brought a triple victory. The Obama administration and the Department of Justice said they would no longer defend Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The same day, the new governor of Hawai`i signed civil unions into law and the Maryland Senate voted 25-21 in favor of a marriage equality bill.

On all three fronts, Lambda Legal has been in the trenches, fighting.

We litigated the first marriage rights suit in Hawai`i in the mid-1990s, and last year, our marriage project director, Jennifer C. Pizer, and staff attorney Tara Borelli launched our lawsuit for civil unions there, while also working behind the scenes with lawmakers and local advocates on framing the civil unions legislation.

In Maryland, our director of constitutional litigation, Susan Sommer, has been working with the legislature, consulting on the drafting of the bill and preparing to testify to urge the House to vote as the Senate did.

Last week, we also won an important victory in New York. Lambda Legal represented the surviving spouse of a gay couple who had been together for 25 years and had married in Canada. After one of them died, a disgruntled family member argued that the marriage was not valid in New York. The state appeals court held that the out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples must be respected, bringing more security to New York's married couples.

Last week has been described as a turning point for our movement. But our work is far from finished. DOMA is still in effect. This past Monday, in our case representing Karen Golinski, a federal judicial employee denied equal medical coverage for her wife, the Justice Department said it would continue to enforce DOMA until it is struck down in the courts or repealed by Congress.

In fact, at least five DOMA cases, including Golinski's, are still pending and must be won. Moreover, a repeal of DOMA won't address the need to protect LGBT individuals from workplace discrimination. Nor will it necessarily immediately protect bi-national same-sex couples who want to reside and work together in the U.S.

As recent events in Iowa have shown us, having equality on the books doesn't mean discrimination goes away. Our opposition is sure to mobilize its resources to attack every single advance we have made. We all must work together to keep our momentum going!