Mississippi’s gay marriage ban challenged in federal court

Mississippi’s gay marriage ban challenged in federal court

By Ashton Pittman October 20, 2014

Deep South Daily

While Becky Bickett and Andrea Sanders apply for a marriage license in Jackson, Mississippi, one of their twin sons – whose adoptions were only completed the day before – makes friends with Hinds County Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn. Though Dunn said she was required by state law to deny their request for a marriage license, she made a promise: “When the law changes, I’ll change with it.” Their request for a license was part of a series of actions by the We Do Campaign and the Campaign for Southern Equality on March 25, 2014. / Photo by Ashton Pittman

The attorney who successfully  argued for the overturn of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in United States v. Windsor has a new target: Mississippi. Lead counsel Roberta Kaplan filed a suit Monday against Mississippi’s ban on same-sex marriage on behalf of two Mississippi couples and the Campaign for Southern Equality, which issued an afternoon press release announcing the suit. Kaplan was joined by local counsel Robert McDuff of McDuff & Byrd in Jackson.

“As the lawyers who represented Edie Windsor, we are so honored to be able to file this case today on behalf of Rebecca Bickett, Andrea Sanders, Jocelyn Pritchett, Carla Webb, and the Campaign for Southern Equality,” Kaplan said. “The Supreme Court took a gigantic step forward last year in Windsor, and since then, dozens of courts around the country have followed suit so that today, gay people in thirty-two states have the right to marry.

“It is now time to take the next big step by making sure that gay families in Mississippi are accorded these same protections. The Supreme Court has made it clear that no matter where a gay person lives —whether it is in Maine, Minnesota, or Mississippi—our Constitution requires that they be treated with the same dignity and respect under the law as everyone else.”

The 2013 Windsor ruling overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred the federal government from recognizing gay marriages even when performed in states that recognize them. That ruling set the stage for the barrage of pro-marriage equality rulings that have followed since.

Activists, led by Campaign for Southern Equality Executive Director Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, march for marriage equality in Jackson, Mississippi on March 25, 2014. / Photo by Ashton Pittman

“It’s time we are able to live with legal protections in our home state,” said plaintiff Jocelyn Pritchett, a Mississippi native who shares a son with her partner, Carla Webb. “We love Mississippi – it is home for us and we have many beautiful friends and family members here. We hope to help create a Mississippi that reflects the hospitality of her people – by creating a legally safe environment for all Mississippi families.”

In Mississippi, 26 percent of gay couples are raising children, according to the Williams Institute. That means that – despite Mississippi’s poor record on LGBT rights – Mississippi has the highest proportion of LGBT couples raising children in the United States.

“My family is no less a family than any other,” said plaintiff Rebecca Bickett, who is raising twin sons with her partner Andrea Sanders, who she’s been with for ten years. Despite their long relationship, they have been unable to afford to travel out-of-state to wed.

“All across Mississippi, we work with loving, committed LGBT families who are proud to call the state home. But they also suffer the harms of discrimination daily. Equality cannot come quickly enough to Mississippi for these families,” says Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality.

The filings for the lawsuit, Campaign for Southern Equality, et al. v. Bryant, can be seen here.