Policy Forum 

# The Case for Marriage Equality: *Perry v. Schwarzenegger*

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Date and Time 

May 18, 2011 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

1st floor/Wintergarden 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring the co-counsels, **David Boies**, Chairman, Boies, Schiller & Flexner and Former Chief Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee; and **Theodore B. Olson**, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Former Solicitor General. With comments by the [co-chairs](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060703593.html) of the advisory board of the [American Foundation for Equal Rights](http://www.afer.org/), **Robert A. Levy**, Chairman, Cato Institute; and **John Podesta**, President, Center for American Progress. 

The 1967 Supreme Court case *Loving v. Virginia* ended state bans on interracial marriage in the 16 states that still had such laws. Now, 44 years after *Loving*, the courts are once again grappling with denial of equal marriage rights — this time to gay couples. Two California couples have filed suit against Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative that limited marriage to opposite-sex couples. The American Foundation for Equal Rights engaged David Boies and Ted Olson to lead the legal challenge. The plaintiffs in *Perry v. Schwarzenegger* won in federal district court, and the case is now on appeal. Plaintiffs argue that Proposition 8 violates the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution and impermissibly singles out gay and lesbian individuals for a disfavored legal status. The speakers on our panel believe that the principle of equality before the law transcends the left-right divide and cuts to the core of our nation’s character.

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