A Debate – Should Gay People Marry?

Evan Wolfson

Monday, 01 Apr 2002 at 8:00 pm – Sun Room, Memorial Union

Evan Wolfson is Director of the Freedom to Marry Collaborative, a non-gay/gay partnership to secure full equality and recognition for same-sex couples and their families.For 12 years and through multiple landmark battles in the quest for equal rights for gay men and lesbians, he was senior staff attorney and director of the Marriage Project at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Last year Wolfson, who has been key in shaping the national debate on same-sex marriage, accepted a grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, which will allow him to continue his work to secure the freedom to marry. In the 1990s Wolfson was a lead attorney in Baehr v. Anderson, the Hawaii marriage case. He was among those who helped convince the Vermont Supreme Court that gay and straight partnerships should be given equal legal treatment. And last year Wolfson argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the court to reject the Boy Scouts of America's ban on gay members. Additionally, Wolfson has been an advocate for gays in the military, gays and lesbians wishing to adopt or maintain visitation rights with their children, and people with AIDS. State Senator Steve King

successfully sued Governor Vilsack over Executive Order Seven, which would have provided protection in the workplace for homosexuals, transsexuals and transvestites. The court ruled the order was unconstitutional in the King vs. Vilsack case. Senator King is currently serving his fifth year as a state Senator, and is running for Iowa's new 5th Congressional District. In the senate, he is chairman of the State Government Committee in Iowa, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Vice Chairman of the Oversight Budget Subcommittee.
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