August 26, 2009

Statement on Sen. Kennedy’s commitment to LGBT community

Statement of Lee Swislow, GLAD Executive Director

Lee Swislow, Executive Director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, made the following statement about Senator Kennedy’s commitment to the LGBT community:

We at GLAD were saddened today to hear of the passing of our great ally and civil rights champion, Senator Edward Kennedy.

I only met the Senator once, but as he did with so many others, he made an impression. At that time GLAD had won marriage equality in Massachusetts, but the Massachusetts Legislature had not yet voted to repeal the state’s “1913” law—the law prohibiting out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if they legally could not marry in their home states. I introduced myself as GLAD’s Executive Director. Without missing a beat the Senator said, “We have got to get rid of that 1913 law.”

What struck me about this conversation was that he needed no prompting. The Senator knew about the 1913 law and GLAD’s work to overturn it because he genuinely cared about our community. His position on marriage equality was driven not by politics but by his sense of what was right. When GLAD advocated for marriage over civil unions, Senator Kennedy understood that true equality means marriage for all.

Senator Kennedy supported not just the right for same-sex couples to marry, but also our right to be treated as equals by our federal government. In 1996, he was one of only 14 senators to vote against the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which to this day prohibits legally married same-sex couples from accessing federal rights, protections, and benefits available to all other married couples.

The Senator’s vote against DOMA was only one of many markers of his strong support for the full equality of our community. We will miss him as a friend, and ally, and as an inspiration.