Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown on Thursday joined 225 other Mayors in signing onto a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to end marriage discrimination nationwide.
The brief includes Mayors from towns as small as Thompson, North Dakota, to the largest five cities in the nation, as well as the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the International Municipal Lawyers Association, and the National League of Cities.
“Santa Monica has a long history of understanding and supporting non-traditional relationships and families,” said McKeown. “Denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry is discrimination. We join with 39 other cities, from Malibu to Portland, Maine, in asking the Supreme Court to end the injustice, and let wedding bells ring for all.”
Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry, said “We’re very proud of the 700 mayors who have been a part of Mayors for the Freedom to Marry over the three years of this campaign.”
“This brief demonstrates the diversity of leaders across the country who know that America is ready for the freedom to marry and want the Supreme Court to bring our country to national resolution,” Soloman said.
Since its launch, Mayors for the Freedom to Marry has partnered with the United States Conference of Mayors to build and grow support.
“It is time for marriage equality to be the law of the land,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran. “It’s the right thing to do and that’s why the U.S. Conference of Mayors has joined this brief.”
The brief was authored by the City Attorney’s Office of Los Angeles and was filed at the Supreme Court Friday morning.
It states: “Municipalities, as the level of government most closely connected to the community they serve, bear a great burden when a target sector of their populace is denied the right to marry. … When the freedom to marry is denied, municipalities are the first level of government to suffer the impact.”
