Kramer Levin Files Amicus Brief for Major Religious Organizations in Federal Marriage Equality Appeals

Kramer Levin has filed an amicus brief in two potentially historic cases seeking marriage equality for same-sex couples. The brief was filed in Kitchen, et al. v. Herbert, et al. and Bishop, et al. v. Smith, et al., the two lawsuits pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit challenging Utah’s and Oklahoma’s laws banning same-sex couples from marrying. Much like Kramer Levin’s amicus briefs in Windsor v. United States and Hollingsworth v. Perry, the duo of Supreme Court marriage equality cases decided last year, the brief in Kitchen and Bishop was filed on behalf of a broad range of mainstream religious organizations favoring marriage equality, as well as a number of prominent congregations and nearly 100 faith leaders in Utah and Oklahoma. The broad-based coalition of religious organizations – all united in the belief that particular religious views or definitions of marriage should not be permitted to influence who the state permits to marry – includes the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the United Church of Christ, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Mormons for Equality, and national groups representing Evangelical Lutheran, United Methodist, Presbyterian, Quaker, and other faiths.

The brief documents the growing range of religious traditions that respect the dignity of lesbian and gay people and their families; solemnize or otherwise honor their relationships; and support civil marriage equality. The brief also makes clear that respecting the marriage rights of same-sex couples will not impinge upon religious beliefs, practices, or operations, but rather will prevent one set of religious beliefs from being imposed through civil law.

The Kramer Levin team that drafted the brief includes litigation partners Jeffrey S. Trachtman and Norman C. Simon and associates Jason M. Moff, Kurt M. Denk and Jessica N. Witte. Kramer Levin has played a leading role in pro bono LGBT rights litigation for nearly two decades. The firm has previously submitted amicus briefs in Boy Scouts v. Dale and Lawrence v. Texas, two landmark LGBT rights cases before the United States Supreme Court, and served as co-counsel in Hernandez v. Robles, which sought equal marriage rights under the New York constitution.