This morning, the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments in what promises to be one of the most significant civil rights cases in our lifetimes. It will determine whether existing federal law prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ people, but it will impact the lives of a majority of Americans.
Opponents of equality — including our very own Department of Justice — told the highest court in the land with dramatic vehemence that the case for equality is convoluted, that you have to bend over backward in order to understand it, that it’s just a cynical attempt by radical queers to “bootstrap” protections into the law where no lawmaker intended them to be.
It’s an insidious talking point. It encourages people to not bother even trying to understand. It doesn’t just overblow the complexity of what is actually pretty straightforward logic; it underestimates the attention of the people watching.
I hope you’re watching.
And I hope that when you do, you remember that your voice matters, and you can use it:
- Read up on the case with this article by our interim Executive Director Sam Ames: A Beginner’s Guide to the Endgame: What Tomorrow’s LGBTQ Supreme Court Cases Mean & Why You Should Care.
- If they don’t already, urge your representative to support the Equality Act (H.R. 5), which would sidestep the need for much of what is up for debate at the Supreme Court tomorrow.
- If they already do, thank them!
- If you can, please help us keep doing the work we do by giving as generously as you can to Our Family Coalition.
Organizations like OFC have been working hard to ensure our community remains as strong as we can – regardless of where the legal and political winds blow.
And wherever they take us: know that we’ll be there with you.
