Subject: New Trial Date for Marriage Case
From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 1995 17:21:19 -0400

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
 News From the Marriage Project 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 17, 1995

Hawaii Marriage Trial Rescheduled for July 1996

Lesbian and Gay Activists See Greater 
Opportunity to Educate the Public 

(HONOLULU, July 17, 1995)   In a scheduling change that permits the lesbian
and gay community more time to educate the public on the freedom to marry, a
judge set a new trial date for the landmark Hawaii case brought by three
same-sex couples who are seeking marriage licenses.

"The case is fully on track,"  said  Evan Wolfson, director of the Marriage
Project at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, co-counsel in the case.
" This move will give the gay community and its allies more time to organize
state by state, and engage the American public on the vital civil rights
issues at stake.  We intend to use this time wisely and make sure that
political organizing and public education accompany the legal work as it
continues to move forward. "

Circuit Judge Kevin Chang postponed the trial last Thursday to give state
lawmakers one more chance to review recommendations from a commission
assigned to study the issue.  The trial, initially scheduled for September
this year, is now set for July 15, 1996, following the 1996 legislative
session. 

 In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the state s refusal to grant
marriage licenses to same-sex couples appears to violate the state s
constitutional guarantee of equal protection.  Sending the case back to the
lower court, the justices ruled that unless the state can demonstrate a
compelling state interest  for refusing the licenses, it must stop
discriminating against same-sex couples who want to marry.

 In the wake of the 1993 ruling, Lambda initiated the Marriage Project to
coordinate the legal and political groundwork for winning and keeping the
freedom to marry nationally. The case, Baehr v. Lewin, has sparked intense
organizing nationwide as the lesbian and gay community, along with its
allies, prepare for the ramifications of a favorable decision in the other 49
states.   Like non-gay couples, lesbian and gay couples will travel to Hawaii
to get married and return to their home state expecting their marriages to be
legally recognized. 
 
The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 1991 by three same-sex couples two
lesbian and one gay whose marriage applications were denied.  The plaintiffs
in the case are represented by Honolulu attorney Dan Foley and Lambda s Evan
Wolfson.  Founded in 1973, Lambda is  the nation s oldest and largest legal
organization advocating for lesbian and gay civil rights.
-- 30--  

 Press Contacts:  Denny Lee, Evan Wolfson, (212) 995-8585/0085.