City of Oakland | Kaplan, Vice Mayor of Oakland, elected and community…

Oakland, Calif. (July 28, 2022) — Today, Oakland Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan, along with Council President Nikki Bas, Council Member Carroll Fife, Pro Tempore President Sheng Thao, and LGBTQ+ elected officials and community leaders, send a letter of support for HR 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to equal marriage under federal law. The letter says forward:

“Given the formulation of some of the opinions in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, our basic civil liberties, including our freedom to love, marry and raise a family with the partner of our choice, are at risk.

The Supreme Court made it clear that they would not only impede progress, but could overturn precedents in an effort to reverse progress. Legally married same-sex couples and their families could be denied the 1,100 federal benefits and protections available to opposite-sex married couples, such as Social Security survivor benefits and the Family and Medical Leave Act. This type of blatant discrimination is fundamentally inconsistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and morally abhorrent. Congress can and must push back against these attacks on the LGBTQ+ community by taking a strong stand for equality.

We applaud the 220 Democrats and 47 Republicans who supported the Respect for Marriage Act and passed it on the floor of the House of Representatives. We encourage the Senate to follow suit and pass HR 8404 before the summer break.

Link to full letter in support of HR 8404

If community members would like to join in co-signing the letter, they can do so through this LINK.

Resolution urging the California State Legislature to uphold marriage equality by putting a measure to overturn Proposition 8 on the ballot

On July 26, the Oakland City Council voted to approve the resolution introduced by Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and Pro Tempore Council Chairman Sheng Thao, reaffirming the City of Oakland’s support for marriage equality for the LGBTQ+ community and calling on the California State Legislature to heed the growing call to protect marriage equality by putting on the ballot a measure to repeal Article I, Section 7.5 of the State Constitution, also known as Proposition 8.

Link to article