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Please Click Here for a Transcript of the Discussion 1 1 2 A DISCUSSION ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY 3 4 5 REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS had at 6 the Marriage Equality Forum taken on January 26, 7 2004, before Patricia A. Armstrong, Certified 8 Shorthand Reporter, Registered Professional 9 Reporter and Notary Public in and for the County 10 of DuPage and State of Illinois, CSR License 11 No. 084-001766, at the hour of 6:00 p.m. held at 12 One IBM Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. 13 MODERATOR: __________ 14 RICHARD WILSON, ESQ. --- 15 PANEL MEMBERS PRESENT: 16 EVAN WOLFSON, ESQ., 17 Executive Director of Freedom to Marry 116 West 23rd Street, Suite 500 18 New York, NY 10011 (212) 851-8418 19 and 20 PATRICIA M. LOGUE, ESQ., 21 Senior Counsel, Lambda Legal 11 East Adams Street, Suite 1008 22 Chicago, Illinois 60603 (312) 663-4413. 23 --- 24 ESPIRITU & ASSOCIATES - (312) 263-1492 2 1 MS. MORSE: Good evening. I want to 2 officially welcome you to Jenner & Block. 3 I want to introduce you to our 4 managing partner, somebody who never hesitates to 5 support any kind of project that we want to do 6 here at Jenner & Block, but particularly these 7 kinds of events. 8 So to kick off this evening, 9 please welcome a friend, my partner, Bob Graham. 10 MR. GRAHAM: I want to thank everybody for 11 coming here tonight. There are some seats in the 12 back on that side of the room if you need a place 13 to sit. We do have a really nice crowd tonight 14 despite the weather. I think it is great that 15 everybody is here. 16 On behalf of Jenner & Block I 17 want to welcome everybody really on behalf of all 18 of the lawyers but also all the staff of the law 19 firm, and I promise you a really great discussion 20 tonight on marriage equality. 21 This is a topic that is in the 22 forefront of the news. It is part of the 23 politics of today as well as part of the law 24 today, so it should be a great topic to discuss. ESPIRITU & ASSOCIATES - (312) 263-1492 3 1 We have a number of co-presenters, and my job 2 right now is just to identify who those people 3 are. 4 The first is the American 5 Constitution Society, the Chicago Lawyers 6 Chapter. 7 We have a number of lawyers at 8 Jenner & Block who participate in this group, and 9 they deserve a special mention because they 10 brought in, I believe, the leading expert on this 11 topic, Evan Wolfson, is here today. He is going 12 to be introduced shortly. 13 Additional Co-presenters are 14 Lambda Legal, which will include, of course, Pat 15 Logue. Pat Logue is seated to the right. Pat 16 used to work at Jenner & Block. So we are always 17 glad to have her come back. 18 There is also Espiritu & 19 Associates, the court reporting firm. You 20 probably can't see them, but they are right up 21 here. We want to really thank them, because they 22 are our co-presenter, too. 23 Also, the Chicago Bar 24 Association's Committee on Lesbian and Gay Men, ESPIRITU & ASSOCIATES - (312) 263-1492 4 1 Matrimonial Law and Civil Rights Law. 2 We are going to have a 3 transcript of this event. So, if any of you 4 really want a transcript of this, I am sure you 5 could get it as well. 6 We are also very proud to host 7 this tonight. We were going to have another 8 speaker here, Bill Hohengarten, who is a Jenner & 9 Block partner from our Washington office; but he 10 got snowed in. When they get four inches of snow 11 in Washington, everything stands still. 12 (Laughter.) 13 MR. GRAHAM: But Pat Logue knows 14 everything about that case anyway. So Pat can 15 address really, I think, any of the pertinent 16 issues; and Bill I am sure is very sorry he can't 17 be here. You would have enjoyed hearing from 18 Bill. 19 There are lots of other 20 co-sponsors that are listed on your program, and 21 we want to thank them for co-sponsoring this 22 event; and finally, I am here to introduce 23 Richard Wilson, who is a partner at Nottage and 24 Ward. ESPIRITU & ASSOCIATES - (312) 263-1492 5 1 Richard told me before when we 2 were out in the lobby eating before we walked in 3 here, that he used to be a summer associate here. 4 So I didn't remember that, but he did. So, that 5 is great. 6 He is co-chair of the CBA 7 Committee on the Legal Rights of Lesbians and Gay 8 Men. 9 He is a member of the ISBA 10 standing committee on sexual orientation and 11 gender identity. He is also on the Board of the 12 AIDS Legal Council. 13 To introduce our panel and to 14 set the stage for the event, please join me in 15 giving him a round of applause. 16 (Applause.) 17 MR. WILSON: Bob, thanks for the 18 promotion. I was a clerk. 19 (Laughter.) 20 MR. WILSON: In any event, I am pleased 21 and honored to be here and to be a part of 22 putting together this event. 23 It is a critical moment in 24 history as far as many of us are concerned, and ESPIRITU & ASSOCIATES - (312) 263-1492 6 1 it is an appropriate time to welcome Evan Wolfson 2 to Chicago to speak to all of you and Pat Logue 3 as well on the issue generally and specifically 4 as regards to what is going on across the 5 country. 6 I find there is a lot of 7 understandable ignorance about what people can do 8 in Vermont or in Massachusetts or wherever, and 9 it's really not clear; and if it's not clear 10 among lawyers and among judges, particularly 11 lawyers and judges who may have a personal 12 interest in it, we certainly have a lot to do as 13 far as education is concerned. 14 I would like to introduce Evan 15 and Pat briefly. 16 Evan, as you know, his 17 biography is briefly contained in the program. 18 Evan has been in the forefront of this issue 19 since at least 10 years when the Baehr case 20 started in Hawaii in 1992 and 1994, first with 21 Lambda Legal and now as the founder and executive 22 director of Freedom to Marry, which is the 23 national coalition organization on the issue of 24 equal marriage rights. ESPIRITU & ASSOCIATES - (312) 263-1492 7 1 I am proud to introduce Evan. 2 You may have seen his letter to the editor in 3 last Friday's New York Times on the issue of 4 President Bush declaring during the State of the 5 Union that he was going to spend a billion and a 6 half dollars to promote marriage. 7 I think Evan has a lot to say. 8 He has been there through the whole history, and 9 we are proud to welcome him to Chicago. 10 MR. WOLFSON: Thank you. It's a great 11 turnout. Thank you very much. 12 I really want to just add my 13 thanks to the Chicago Bar Association and the 14 Illinois State Bar Association, the American Constitution Society, 15 and Jenner & Block for providing this wonderful space and supporting 16 this event, to Espiritu & Associates and my old 17 colleagues and friends and home, Lambda Legal, 18 and all the other organizations that have 19 sponsored this. 20 I want to thank you all for 21 coming out today. This is an incredibly 22 important moment in our nation's history, not to 23 mention in our lives as lesbians and gay men and 24 as non-gay people who care about same sex ESPIRITU & ASSOCIATES - (312) 263-1492 8 1 couples, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and 2 transgendered people. 3 We all have a stake in working 4 to make sure that our country keep its promise to 5 be in a country where everyone has the right to 6 be both equal and different and where no one has 7 to give up her or his difference in order to be 8 treated equally. 9 It is great to have these 10 kinds of sponsorships from these kinds of 11 organizations and this kind of roomful of people, 12 because it really makes us feel reminded 13 that we are among friends and we are not alone in 14 caring about those values of equality and holding 15 our country to its promise; but at the same time 16 when we come together in a group like this and 17 have the support of one another determined to do 18 something to shape history, it is sometimes easy 19 to lose sight of an important fact. That fact 20 is that in all 50 states today lesbians and gay 21 men, people who are different from the majority, 22 are second class citizens. 23 No matter how strong we may be 24 as individuals, no matter how rich our community, ESPIRITU & ASSOCIATES - (312) 263-1492 9 1 no matter how productive our lives, no matter how 2 dedicated we are, each and every one of us who is 3 gay is a second class citizen in this country; 4 and that is the backdrop against which we 5 struggle to hold our country to its promise.
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