Nos. 14-556, 14-562, 14-571 & 14-574 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States JAMES OBERGEFELL, et al., Petitioners, v. RICHARD HODGES, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al., Respondents. On Writs of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit BRIEF OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH AND THE NEW YORK CITY BAR ASSOCIATION, ET AL.,* AS AMICI CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONERS James D. Ross Richard L. Levine Legal & Policy Director Counsel of Record HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Jay Minga‡ 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP New York, NY 10118 767 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10153 Anna M. Pohl Telephone: (212) 310-8286 Chair, Committee on
[email protected] Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual ‡Only Admitted in California and Transgender Rights Marie-Claude Jean-Baptiste Robert T. Vlasis III Programs Director, WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP Cyrus R. Vance Center for 1300 Eye Street, N.W., Ste. 900 International Justice Washington, DC 20005 NEW YORK CITY BAR Telephone: (202) 682-7024 ASSOCIATION
[email protected] 42 West 44th Street New York, NY 10036 Counsel for Amici Curiae * See Appendix for a complete list of amici. i TABLE OF CONTENTS INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ............................... 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT .................................... 5 ARGUMENT ............................................................ 15 I. COUNTRIES THAT HAVE LEGALIZED SAME-SEX MARRIAGE FACED AND REJECTED ARGUMENTS SIMILAR TO THOSE ADVANCED HERE ................................. 15 A. The Supposed Need to Regulate Procreation Is an Irrational Basis to Deny Same-Sex Marriage .............. 15 B. Animus Toward LGBT People Justifies Judicial Intervention ........... 20 C. LGBT People Are a Suspect Class .................................................... 24 D.