FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | July 7, 2005

National Center for Lesbian Rights Asks State Supreme Court to Decide California Marriage Case

(San Francisco, CA, July 7, 2005) — Today the National Center for Lesbian Rights urged the California Supreme Court to decide whether same-sex couples must be permitted to marry under the state Constitution. On July 1, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer asked the justices to review a trial court decision holding that excluding same-sex couples from the right to marry violates the California Constitution. That ruling by San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard A. Kramer has been stayed pending appeal. NCLR is lead counsel in the case, Woo v. Lockyer, representing Equality California, Our Family Coalition, and twelve same-sex couples.

Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights issued the following statement.

"Every day, we remember the faces of the couples that married in San Francisco in the winter of 2004. We remember the faces of their children. All filled with the joy of finally having full legal recognition of their relationships. Those same faces haunt us, filled with sadness, but also determination. Real lives, real families, are on the line, each and every day, waiting for the Court to rule. We urge the Supreme Court to accept immediate review of the case and to uphold Judge Kramer's decision." Heller Ehrman LLP, Lambda Legal, ACLU, the Law Office of David C. Codell, and Steefel, Levitt and Weiss are co-counsel with NCLR on the case.