RALLY PROTESTING DISCRIMINATORY MARRIAGE DECISION
New Orleans, LA (September 3, 2014) — The LGBT Community Center of New Orleans is co-hosting a rally this afternoon at 5:30 p.m. in Jackson Square, New Orleans, to protest U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman’s decision against marriage equality for Louisiana residents, with groups including Forum For Equality, the ACLU of Louisiana, the Human Rights Campaign, and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman declined to strike down Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriages, saying “The Court finds that Louisiana’s definition of marriage as between one man and one woman and the limitation on recognition of same-sex marriages permitted by law in other states found in Article XII, Section 15 of the Louisiana Constitution and article 3520(B) of the Louisiana Civil Code do not infringe the guarantees of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution.” Judge Feldman is the first federal judge in the nation to rule against equality rights for LGBT citizens. The rally in Jackson Square will give Louisiana residents the opportunity to protest this shameful decision that denies Louisiana citizens equal rights and protections under the law.
The original suit was filed by the gay-rights organization Forum For Equality, and the other plaintiffs in the case were Louisiana residents in same-sex marriages that had been solemnized in other states: Jacqueline and Lauren Brettner of New Orleans (married in New York in 2012), Nick Van Sickels and Andrew Bond of New Orleans (married in Washington D.C. in 2012), Henry Lambert and Carey Bond of New Orleans (married in New York in 2011) and Havard Scott and Sergio March Prieto of Shreveport (married in Vermont in 2010). Dalton Courson, an attorney for the plaintiffs, announced they would appeal Feldman’s decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The LGBT Community Center of New Orleans was founded in 1992 with a mission to provide resources and advocacy that foster community development and social and economic justice efforts, in order to strengthen the collective power of gender and sexual minorities and their allies in GNO area. The Center’s vision is to create a greater New Orleans area where gender and sexual minorities are equitable and empowered. For more information visit our website: www.lgbtccneworleans.org.
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