The attorneys who will argue in favor of gay marriage rights before the U.S. Supreme Court include an attorney who argued the case that made Massachusetts the first state with marriage equality.
Mary Bonauto is credited for helping to launch the gay marriage movement in a statement by plaintiff attorneys in a lawsuit challenging gay marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.
Bonauto will team up with attorney Doug Hallward-Driemeier, who has filed more than 150 briefs and argued 14 times before the high court, to make arguments on April 28.
“The road that we’ve all traveled to get here has been built by so many people who believe that marriage is a fundamental right for all people,” Bonauto said in a statement. “Same-sex couples should not be excluded from the joy, the security, and the full citizenship signified by that institution.”
In January, the high court accepted
Bonauto will present arguments for question 1: “Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?”
Hallward-Driemeier will address question 2: “Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?”
“It is an incredible honor to represent these devoted couples, who have already been lawfully married and established new families, in arguing to vindicate their right to have the states respect their marriages,” Hallward-Driemeier said in a statement.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kirkmitchell
