David Shupe-Roderick, 25, and Ryan W. Dupree, 21 has filed a federal court challenge to the constitutionality of Wyoming’s ban on same-sex marriage and have done so so far without any help from any of our Gay Legal or Gay Rights Organizations. Not because they haven’t asked. But because none will help.
The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 13th. This is the first legal challenge to Wyoming’s law defining marriage as being a contract solely “between a male and a female person.” David and Ryan, who are representing themselves, filed the lawsuit after the Laramie County Clerk’s Office refused to issue them a marriage license. on three seperate occasions.
“We determined that a lawsuit was the only possible way for them to get to recognize us as people,” Shupe-Roderick said. “I think it’s time that Wyoming lives up to its title. You know they call themselves the Equality State? Well, they’re not so equal.”
David and Ryan cannot afford an attorney and can’t find one to take their case for free.so far they are relying on knowledge one of them acquired while interning for the ACLU.
The two questions that bother me in this is where the HELL is Lamda Legal, the ACLU or Gay Inc? And why aren’t they helping these two courageous kids out? I knw that there are many out there who feel that EVERYTHING has to be done when the moons and the stars align because its easier that way and Wyoming may not be “ripe” for these kinds of cases so they don;t even want to try but that is the worst excuse and staregy there is. If you lose, you appeal, and you keep appealing and fighting and spreading the word and making your case.
If everyone just sits around and waits for the Prop 8 trial to run it’s course nothing, nothing will change. If anything gay couples around the country in every state of the union should be flooding the court system with challanges. If not for anything else to prove how badly we want equal rights and are willing to fight for it.
It would be nice if some fat-walleted, celebrity that claims to support gay marriage or GOD FORBID one of our own Gay Organizations would step in and write a check for these guiys so they could have a decent lawyer. And if I had the money I would.
I don’t care what circuit they’re in, or what the predetermined status of the case may be, these are two strong gay men are challenging a state’s unequal laws, and they deserve support.
So ACLU, Lambda Legal, HRC, NGLTF, or even Wyoming Equality how about egtting off your well paid asses and supporting these guys.
Lets help these guys out and contact the following organizations and ask them to get involved!
Lamda Legal,
National Office 120 Wall Street, Suite 1500, New York, NY 10005
tel 212-809-8585
fax 212-809-0055
Western Regional Office
3325 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 1300
Los Angeles, CA 90010-1729
t 213-382-7600
www.lambdalegal.org/wro
ACLU of Wyoming
Executive Director: Linda Burt
PO Box 20706
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003
Phone: (307) 637-4565
Email: acluwy@aclu.org
DO SOMETHING!
*UPDATE – I have spoken with Lamda Legal’s National Headquarters in New York and have forwarded them the original article.. They are going to pass it along to to the Western Regional office.
There are significant harms in losing cases. Rulings are precedent for subsequent cases and can bind or at least influence other courts and can take years or even decades to overturn — in the meantime delaying or preventing success on better-framed and litigated cases. It took 17 years to overturn Bowers v. Hardwick, which in the meantime was used against gay people across the country to justify putting us in jail, denying us jobs, and taking away custody of our children. A loss on marriage could have similarly adverse results. In addition, the nonprofit LGBT legal groups — who have a great track record of bringing smart cases and winning them, such as Lawrence v. Texas, Romer v. Evans, and the marriage cases in Massachusetts and Iowa, as well as the original California marriage case that resulted in 18,000 same-sex couples getting married — are supported financially by donors who give them money to use their decades of legal experience and their expertise to be smart about which cases to try to move forward. It is not their obligation to take on the case of anyone who decides to file a lawsuit, especially if they think it will do damage to the movement. If you think this case should be supported, raise your own money to get them a lawyer. But, two individuals (and bloggers) are not entitled to dictate how legal nonprofit organizations supported by donors for particular purposes should be proceeding.