By Dawn Wolfe
LIVONIA –
The theme of this year's Between The Lines Same-Sex Wedding Expo is "Marriage Rites for All," after all – so of course one of our workshops needs to feature the activists and attorneys working to achieve marriage rights for all.
Without further ado, here is a look at our panelists and their differing approaches to marriage rights. Taking our presenters in alphabetical order, first we come to Equality Michigan's Director of Policy, Emily Dievendorf. According to Dievendorf, Equality Michigan http://equalitymi.org has been in the marriage equality business, "….since the 1990's, when the so-called Defense of Marriage Act was first presented."
Our People in Lansing
Equality Michigan http://equalitymi.org, then known as the Triangle Foundation, was a founding member of 2004's Coalition for a Fair Michigan – the coalition that tried, unsuccessfully, to defeat Michigan's anti-gay marriage state constitutional amendment. Since then, Dievendorf said, her organization has "…engaged in public education and lobbying efforts to increase support for marriage equality," with the goal of ultimately repealing the 2004 Proposal 2.
Dievendorf said that her organization's approach focuses primarily on lobbying and public education. "With an issue as complex as the advancement of marriage equality, there is no one best venue for achieving success. Ultimately, success will only be achieved through a combination of public education, legislative lobbying, and court cases." Though the organization has contributed amicus briefs to support other organizations in LGBT-related court cases, Dievendorf said, "…we feel that a combination of political lobbying organizations and grassroots organizations is our best chance for engaging the magnitude of people required to effectively implement a strategy for each venue."
Young Activists See Hope In The Ballot
While Equality Michigan is taking the struggle for marriage equality – and other LGBT issues like workplace discrimination – to Lansing, Andrea Ernst and MILove http://www.milove.org hope to take the issue directly to voters with a pro-equal marriage ballot initiative.
BTL first profiled Ernst and MILove in our Feb. 14 issue. https://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=58487
According to Ernst, MILove is currently working to educate voters about the challenges same-sex couples and their children face under discriminatory Michigan laws. A young organization headed by young activists, MILove is also starting with the state's college campuses in addition to recruiting teams throughout Michigan. "… we are building relationships with student organizations and faculty members…" she added, because, "the support of Michigan's youth will be instrumental in passing a marriage equality ballot proposal. "
While the ballot box was once a disaster for marriage equality in Michigan, Ernst believes that current poll numbers may well lead to a pro-equality victory.
"Our approach capitalizes on the recent drastic change in public opinion and allows the people of Michigan to create the change that they want to see in our state," she said during an interview via email. "Our greatest strength is that our success lies in the hands of Michigan voters – where we already have a projected majority supporting marriage equality."
On the other hand, Ernst admits that public opinion can be fickle – and that anti-equality forces are willing to twist the truth to their own ends. "Our greatest risk lies in the fact that people can be unpredictable, and it will require a significant amount of time and effort to ensure that we ultimately get a majority of voters to support our cause," she conceded. "This means we will have to work hard to combat factors such as voter apathy or opponents that may try to twist our message to confuse voters."
Has Legal Briefs, Will Fight for Equality – ACLU of Michigan
Like Equality Michigan, the ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Project has been fighting for marriage equality (and equal rights generally) since the beginning – and Jay Kaplan, our next presenter and staff attorney of the organization's LGBT Project http://www.aclumich.org/courts/lgbt-project, has been on the front lines of that fight from the beginning.
Kaplan and his staff directly challenge discriminatory laws through the court system, public education efforts, and legislative lobbying. While the organization takes this three-pronged approach, however, it is best known for its work in the courts.
"We actively opposed the federal Defense of Marriage Act and Michigan laws that denied same-sex couples the right to marry," Kaplan said. "We also actively opposed the (legislative) attempt to amend our state's constitution in 2003, as well as the ballot referendum in 2004."
When persuasion didn't work, the ACLU went to court. "We sued the State of Michigan regarding its interpretation of the Marriage Amendment and whether the language of the amendment prohibited domestic partner health insurance benefits, [and] [w]e sued the State of Michigan last year for passing a law that prohibits certain public employers from offering health insurance coverage to same-sex partners even where the eligibility criteria has nothing to do with relationship recognition," Kaplan explained. Unfortunately for equality, Michigan's courts ruled against the ACLU – and Michigan's LGBT citizens – in those cases.
Making A Federal Case For Equality Under the Law
While Michigan's legislature and court system are, on the whole, against equal protection under the law for LGBT couples and their children, Detroit attorney Dana Nessel is hoping that going directly to the federal court system may bring some much-needed relief.
Nessel, of the firm Nessel & Kessel Law http://nesselandkessellaw.com, specializes in criminal and family law and told BTL that, "[M]y passion has long involved issues related to LGBT rights, and I have handled a variety of cases involving the inequitable treatment of gays and lesbians in our community," including representing Renee Harmon in her unsuccessful 2010 bid to keep joint custody after her partnership with her children's biological mother ended.
Given the failure of Michigan's courts to uphold the rights of LGBT parents, Nessel is now trying a case in federal court challenging the state's ban on second-party, same-sex adoption. In DeBoer et al v. Snyder, Nessel is representing the rights of a same-sex family headed by two women, both nurses, who are the adopted parents of three special needs children. Under Michigan law, each of the couple's children can only be legally adopted by one parent. As part of the case, Nessel and her Co-Counsel Carole Stanyar are also challenging the constitutionality of Michigan's anti-marriage amendment. The case is currently pending.
"Michigan's laws are, without question, the most anti-LGBT laws in the United States," Nessel said. "Despite the admirable efforts of many LGBT advocacy groups in the state, not only is the state legislature unwilling to remotely consider passing any laws which afford protections to gays and lesbians and their families, the laws routinely proposed at the state level offer only further discrimination against the LGBT population."
"I honestly believe that, at this juncture, challenging the constitutionality of Michigan's laws as applied to gays and lesbians is the only course of action which has the opportunity of providing relief to the LGBT residents of our state."
BTL readers can hear all 4 speakers at the Same-Sex Wedding Expo this Sunday, April 7 at 2:15 p.m. at the Detroit Livonia Marriott on Six Mile just east of I-275. Tickets to the expo are $10 and include all the wonderful food, cake and dessert you can manage. Six great vacation getaways will also be given to six lucky Expo attendees. The Expo will open at 1 p.m. and run till 4 p.m.
