BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON U.S. SUPREME COURT TAKING UP MARRIAGE EQUALITY CASES
"The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear two cases—one involving California’s Prop 8 and another from right here in New York challenging the federal government’s denial of benefits to same-sex couples—is yet another step closer to the day when every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender American has the right to marry, just as my wife and I are able to celebrate our love and commitment through marriage. Like the landmark 1967 decision that legalized interracial marriage, the high court must affirm that everyone has—as the Declaration of Independence declares—the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, including a civil, government-recognized marriage that in no way infringes on any religious beliefs or practices. In Brooklyn—home to one of the nation’s largest LGBT populations—same-sex couples already enjoy these liberties, but until these unions are acknowledged by all 50 states and the federal government, the battle is far from over. The message to the justices is loud and proud: declare that ‘love is love’ and make marriage equality the law of the land."