API Equality Los Angeles

Unprecedented Coaliton Of Over 60 Asian American Organizations File Legal Brief Supporting Equal Marriage Rights In California

A team of Asian American attorneys and advocates in Los Angeles and San Francisco announced today that a coalition of over 60 local, state, and national Asian American organizations will be filing a legal brief in support of equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

The amicus ("friend of the court") brief is being filed in the consolidated California Marriage Cases, currently pending before the California Supreme Court. The California Marriage Cases are historic lawsuits urging the California courts to end the exclusion of loving and committed same-sex couples from marriage. The same-sex couples and their supporters ask the Court to hold that the state's current law denying lesbian and gay persons the freedom to marry violates the Constitution's guarantee of equality. The amicus brief filed today by the coalition of Asian American organizations seeks to support basic fairness for same-sex couples and their families, drawing from the Asian American community's own past struggle with marriage discrimination in the state of California. The amicus brief was supported by many of the nation's largest and most prominent Asian American civil rights advocates, lawyers associations, social service organizations, and community groups.

Supporting organizations represented nearly every major urban area in the state with a significant Asian American population, including San Francisco, the Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. Together these organizations also reflect the broad diversity of the Asian American community, including Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, South Asian, and Southeast Asian organizations.

"By filing this brief, Asian American organizations are joining together in an unprecedented show of unity and support for equal marriage rights within the Asian American community," said Karin Wang, Vice President-Programs at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. "Together, we want to send a strong message to the California Supreme Court that Asian Americans support a just and fair California for all members of our community."

"Asian Americans have fought hard to achieve marriage equality that was denied to us on the basis of race," stated Robert Chang, Professor of Law at Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) and currently visiting at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. "We must be committed to ensuring that this history is not forgotten and that marriage equality is not denied to lesbian and gay Asian Americans or to the broader lesbian and gay community."

Many of the endorsing organizations are not specifically focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender issues, but articulated strong support for the brief. According to Dae Joong Yoon, Executive Director of the Korean Resource Center (KRC), "The Korean Resource Center believes that every human being, regardless of immigration status, ethnicity, race, gender, age, and sexual orientation, should have equal rights. KRC supports efforts to achieve marriage equality and believes that same-sex couples should have the same legal rights of marriage as a matter of respecting the civil and fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Constitution."

Paul Chan, President-elect of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA), said: "The Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association is one of the oldest and largest minority bar associations in California. As part of our mission, we promote the legal and civil rights of Chinese Americans and other Asian Pacific Americans. SCCLA takes social and political issues seriously and does not take positions on them lightly, but given the history of marriage discrimination against Chinese immigrants, we firmly and enthusiastically stand together with other civil rights groups in supporting marriage equality."

Vid Prabhakaran, Endorsements Chair of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA-NC), declared: "The South Asian Bar Association of Northern California is proud to serve as an advocate for the South Asian community. As part of that mission, SABANC recognizes that minority communities often face similar challenges at various points throughout their histories. The South Asian community has felt the burden of laws and policies that limit their marriage rights in its past. Today, we stand with the gay and lesbian community - both inside and outside the South Asian community - as they face similar discrimination."

Debee Yamamoto, Director of Public Policy for the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), stated, "In 1994, the Japanese American Citizens League became the first non-gay national civil rights organization after the American Civil Liberties Union to support marriage equality for same-sex couples. Current California laws deny same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry. As Japanese Americans, we recognize the detrimental effect that exclusionary laws have on communities. As advocates for civil and human rights, the JACL is proud to support this amicus brief and we urge the California Supreme Court to uphold the rights of same-sex couples."

The legal brief team, many of whom donated their time and expertise to this project as volunteers or "pro bono" lawyers, included (in alphabetical order): Robert Chang, professor of law at Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) and currently visiting at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law; Kevin Fong, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw & Pittman LLP (PWSP); Alex Fukui, Esq., API Equality-LA, Alice Kwong Ma Hayashi, Esq., PWSP; Victor Hwang, Esq., Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (APILO); Deanna Kitamura, Esq., API Equality-LA; Karin Wang, Esq., Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC); Andy Wong, API Equality/Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA); Brian Wong, Esq., PWSP; and Doreena Wong, Esq., API Equality-LA. Many others at APALC, API Equality-LA, API Equality-SF, APILO, and PWSP were also involved with the brief and outreach.

To download the brief and related documents online, please go to any of the following websites:

LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS FILING THE BRIEF

  • API Equality
  • API Equality-LA
  • API Equality-SF
  • Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area
  • Asian American Institute
  • Asian American Justice Center
  • Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund
  • Asian American Psychological Association
  • Asian American Queer Women Activists
  • Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
  • Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian, Bisexual Women and Transgender Network
  • Asian and Pacific Islander Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
  • Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice
  • Asian Law Alliance
  • Asian Law Caucus
  • Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team
  • Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County
  • Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance-Alameda
  • Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance-Los Angeles 
  • Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California
  • Asian Pacific Americans for Progress-Los Angeles
  • Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley
  • Asian Pacific Islander Family Pride
  • Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach
  • Asian Pacific Islander Pride Council
  • Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center
  • Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council
  • Asian Pacific Women's Center
  • Asian Women's Shelter
  • Asian/Pacific Bar of California
  • Center for the Pacific Asian Family
  • Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA)
  • Chinese Progressive Association
  • Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty
  • Filipinos for Affirmative Action
  • Gay Asian Pacific Alliance
  • Gay Asian Pacific Support Network
  • Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific Asian North American Religion (PANA Institute)
  • Japanese American Bar Association
  • Japanese American Citizens League
  • Khmer Girls in Action
  • The Korean American Bar Association of Southern California
  • Korean Community Center of the East Bay
  • Korean Resource Center
  • Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance
  • My Sister's House
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association 
  • National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association
  • National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
  • National Korean American Service & Education Consortium
  • Orange County Asian & Pacific Islander Community Alliance
  • Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego
  • Philippine American Bar Association 
  • Satrang
  • South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow 
  • South Asian Bar Association of Northern California 
  • South Asian Bar Association of San Diego
  • South Asian Bar Association of Southern California
  • South Asian Network
  • Southeast Asia Resource Action Center 
  • Southeast Asian Community Alliance
  • Southern California Chinese Lawyers Associations
  • Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California 

Media Contacts:
Karin Wang
APALC
Phone: (213) 241-0234
E-mail: kwang@apalc.org

Andy Wong
API Equality
Phone: (415) 274-6760 ext. 316
E-mail: awong@caasf.org