Lawyers at a dozen Texas law firms joined in an amicus brief filed Feb. 27 with the state Supreme Court in support of same-sex married couples' right to the same employment benefits as opposite-sex couples despite the disapproval by some on religious grounds.
The lawyers joined the Anti-Defamation League in filing the brief in Pidgeon v. Turner, arguing that "religious and moral disapproval by a limited segment of the population provide no basis for limiting the scope of the constitutional marriage rights" that the U.S. Supreme Court articulated in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodge.
Mark Trachtenberg and Kent Rutter, Houston partners in Haynes and Boone and co-authors of the amicus brief, said they and the ADL reached out to people at different firms to find support for the brief.
"I believe most lawyers are keenly aware of the importance of the Establishment Clause and understand that true religious freedom means courts can't give weight to one religion over another," Rutter said.
Excerpted from Texas Lawyer. To read the full article, please click here (subscription required).