The Institute for Science and Human Values has signed on to an amicus curiae brief filed by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in support of the right to marriage.
The Constitution requires states both to license marriages between two persons of the same sex and to recognize such marriages that are lawfully performed in other states. This constitutional mandate is rooted in two separate provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment: the Due Process Clause, which protects the fundamental right to marry, and the Equal Protection Clause, which protects against invidious discrimination. Although either of these provisions, standing alone, would be sufficient to invalidate the laws at issue in this case, amici urge the Court not to rest its decision on either ground alone. Instead, this Court should hold not only that marriage is a fundamental right and that the Due Process Clause prohibits states from impeding same-sex marriage, but also that all laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation—including laws impeding same-sex marriage—are constitutionally suspect and subject to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause.