Norton to Speak Out for Marriage Equality Tuesday

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will speak at a rally at the Supreme Court promenade in defense of marriage equality on Tuesday, March 26, at 9:30 a.m. The first of two marriage equality cases to be heard this week, Hollingsworth v. Perry, a challenge to California's Proposition 8 ballot initiative that defines marriage as between a man and a woman, will be heard on Tuesday. The Court will hear United States v. Windsor, a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 (DOMA), which prevents same-sex married couples from receiving the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples.

"It is no longer possible to argue that marriage equality is unconstitutional," said Norton. "Opponents are reduced to saying that states should recognize marriage equality in their own time, or find a technical way to slow down people who have a legitimate constitutional claim. This is a dangerous approach, which the Court has never used because the Court does not create rights; it announces their existence."

Norton, a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar, has long been an advocate of marriage equality. Same sex marriage is permitted in the District of Columbia and nine states.

Published: March 25, 2013