For Immediate Release

Contact: Yusef Robb / 323-384-1789 / press@afer.org

9TH CIRCUIT HEARING ON PROP. 8 TO BE TELEVISED

Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights made the following statement today regarding the televising of the Dec. 6, 2010 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hearing on Proposition 8. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m.

“For too long the truth about marriage equality has been obscured by misleading political rhetoric. Our case is rooted in the principles of equality upon which our nation was founded and the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law for every American, without exception. That case has already been proven conclusively in federal court, and now millions of Americans will be able to hear the truth about this issue first-hand.”

The American Foundation for Equal Rights is the sole sponsor of the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case against Prop. 8. Its legal team is headed by Theodore Olson and David Boies, who notably faced-off in the Bush v. Gore case that decided the presidency. Since launching the Perry case just 18 months ago, the Foundation has endeavored to expand equality for all Americans by linking marriage equality to the nation’s founding constitutional principles, including the right of all Americans to equal protection under the law. Its coalition of support has grown to include a diverse and unprecedented array of leaders including Julian Bond (past Chairman of the NAACP), Dolores Huerta (co-founder with Cesar Chavez of the UFW), the California NAACP, MALDEF, Ken Mehlman (former Chairman of the Republican National Committee and top adviser to President George W. Bush), major LGBT civil rights and legal organizations, and thousands of grassroots supporters across the nation. Its advisory board is co-chaired by John Podesta (White House Chief of Staff in the Clinton Administration and head of the Center for American Progress) and Robert Levy (head of the Cato Institute).

“Fourteen times the Supreme Court has stated that marriage is a fundamental right of all individuals. This case tests the proposition whether the gay and lesbian Americans among us should be counted as ‘persons’ under the 14th Amendment, or whether they constitute a permanent underclass ineligible for protection under that cornerstone of our Constitution,” attorneys Theodore B. Olson and David Boies wrote in their brief to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“More than 30 years ago, the United States Supreme Court recognized that marriage is one of the basic rights of man,” Olson and Boies wrote in their original filing in the Perry case, referring to the Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down bans on interracial marriage.

For more information, visit www.AFER.org.

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