In an exclusive one-on-one talk,
Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel for Lambda Legal - a GLBT civil
rights legal group - and co-counsel for the recent California Supreme
Court gay marriage decision, said she believed most people who voted
for constitutional gay marriage bans were not aware of the harm they
were committing and that the bans serve no “positive purpose
whatsoever.”
Pizer discussed her views on gay
marriage with OUTTAKEonline.com CEO Charlotte Robinson. The
Emmy-award winning producer/director has been documenting the fight
for marriage equality for the past five years as it has unfolded in
Massachusetts – the first state to recognize gay marriage in the
U.S.
California's Supreme Court recently
ruled gay couples have the constitutional right to marry in the
state. Officials have said couples might begin marrying on June
16th.
However, a voter-led referendum which
would prohibit gay marriage by making it unconstitutional in the
state is set to appear on the November ballot. Florida residents
will also be asked to vote on a similar ban. Since 2004, when gay
wedding bells began ringing in Massachusetts, 26 states have outlawed
gay marriage. Arizona is the only state where voters have defeated
the measure. Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Arizona
Sen. John McCain campaigned in favor of the ban.
In her interview with Robinson, Pizer
said that some of the state's bans are “horribly broad” excluding
not only marriage, but civil unions or even registered domestic
partnerships for gay couples. “...it seems unlikely that the
majority of the people who cast those votes to change those laws - in
that way - weren't realizing the harmful consequences of what they
were doing.”
She went on to elaborate on the bans
themselves, saying they accomplished nothing positive while creating
real hardships on gay and lesbian families. “...these statewide
rules... deny them [gay couples] really basic legal protections
without helping anyone, without accomplishing any positive purpose
whatsoever.”
Robinson expects release of her
documentary to coincide with the fifth anniversary of gay marriage in
Massachusetts – and the first anniversary for California – in
2009. You can view a short of the documentary at
www.OUTTAKEonline.com.