James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT Rights Project and co-counsel in the challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act currently before the U. S. Supreme Court, was in Philadelphia this past Tuesday to discuss the future of marriage equality. Esseks, who spoke at the Moore College of Art, has been with ACLU for 12 years and said he had long hoped to get involved with the agency. “I went to law school hoping to be a lawyer and advocate for LGBT rights and issues, and ACLU was one of the main places that I wanted to work,” he said. “They have been doing this work since 1936 and have been seriously involved ever since. I like the idea of doing work for LGBT equality through an organization that is focused on everybody’s rights.” Esseks is serving as co-counsel in Windsor vs. U.S., the first challenge to the federal ban on same-sex marriage to be taken up by the Supreme Court. Esseks represents 83-year-old Edie Windsor, a Philadelphia native who was forced to pay hundreds of thousands in inheritance tax after the death of her wife. “Edie is the dream, she is just fabulous,” Esseks said. “She lived a classic fairy-tale story of a love affair for over 44 years. I never met her spouse, and I wish I had because the stories I have heard and from films about their life together, it was really quite a relationship. A piece of working with Edie is hearing about that relationship.” Esseks said Windsor has lived through the many ups and downs of the LGBT community’s development, which he said LGBTs of all generations can relate to. “She is somebody who lived through a really broad arc of history in LGBT rights. Edie and Thea met in the early ’60s and for a big chunk of their relationship — as committed as they were — they lived a profoundly closeted life. She has lived a journey that all of us as a community have been on and it is inspiring to see how one person’s personal stories capture such a wide range of experiences that we have all had.” The Supreme Court is excpected to rule on Windsor’s case, and on another challenge to Proposition 8, by the end of June. Esseks said it is hard to predict the outcome, but he is optimistic that the court will overturn DOMA. “At this point all we have in terms of tea leaves are the comments and questions that justices asked in oral arguments and it is hard to say, it is hard to make predictions,” he said. “I am optimistic that we are going to get a ruling striking down DOMA, which would be fabulous. It would be transformative.” In addition to the Supreme Court cases, Esseks noted it’s an exciting time for the movement in individual states. “Rhode Island became the 10th state and I think this week we are likely to see Delaware pass same-sex marriage,” he said. (Editor’s note: Delaware legalized same-sex marriage on Tuesday.) “There are serious efforts in Illinois and Minnesota. If we get those, we will be at 13 states plus Washington D.C. But we have a long way to go and the road gets harder.” Esseks said public referendums will be important in seeing further victories. “The way we will make progress is going back to the people and repealing some of the marriage amendments in constitutions. We have 30 states that have constitutions that ban same-sex couples from marrying,” he said. “We showed we could win marriage by vote of the people in November, but that took a lot of money, time, effort and persuasion. Despite the fact that we went 4-0 last fall, we were 0-32 before and lost again and again, so we have a bunch of work ahead.” The ACLU is currently working on a Freedom to Marry lawsuit pending in Illinois and a case in federal court in North Carolina that will challenge the state’s ban on second-parent adoption. Despite the fact that Pennsylvania does not allow same-sex marriage and does not have an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination law, Esseks said Pennsylvanians can help win equality by talking to fellow residents about the struggles the community faces. “It is all about talking up the issue. I think that we have seen a transformation in the country on LGBT rights in general and in freedom to marry in terms of public opinion in the last 10 years,” he said. “That includes a bunch of change in public opinion in Pennsylvania as well, which hasn’t changed in laws, but I am sure that that is in our future in Pennsylvania, as we continue the education and work that we all do by being as out as we can in every part of our lives. Having those conversations in a normal everyday way with people in your lives, that is how public opinion changes — just raising the profile and changing minds.”
