Mary Bonauto
Mary Bonauto | |
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Born | MacArthur fellow | June 8, 1961
Mary L. Bonauto (born June 8, 1961)
On April 28, 2015, Bonauto was one of three attorneys who argued before the
Biography
Bonauto was born in 1961 and grew up in
Bonauto has litigated widely in areas such as job and public accommodations discrimination, securing domestic partner benefits and relationship protections, establishing second parent rights and de facto parent status, vindicating First Amendment protections, and challenging anti-gay harassment and violence. She has worked on public policy in all six New England states, and occasionally writes for legal publications. Bonauto filed her first marriage case in Vermont in July 1997.[3]
Yale University awarded its 2010-2011 Brudner Prize, which recognizes "an accomplished scholar or activist whose work has made significant contributions to the understanding of LGBT issues or furthered the tolerance of LGBT people," to Bonauto.[7]
In 2011, Bonauto was named one of the 50 most-powerful women in Boston by
In 2012, she was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the LGBT History Month.[9]
In March 2013,
In June 2013 immediately following the DOMA Supreme Court decision, she was called in Slate a "Gay Marriage Hero" and "the legal architect of the DOMA repeal."[10]
She was named a MacArthur fellow in September 2014 for her work "breaking down legal barriers based on sexual orientation".[11]
In May 2016, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by Harvard University for "establishing the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide".[12]
Work on same-sex marriage
Vermont
In 1997, Bonauto, on behalf of GLAD, along with
Massachusetts
GLAD led by Bonauto filed suit in Massachusetts on behalf of seven gay and lesbian couples denied the freedom to marry in 2001.[14] In the case, known as Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on November 18, 2003, became the first state high court to rule that excluding gay people from civil marriage violates equal protection guarantees. Same-sex couples began marrying on May 17, 2004.[3] The November 2003 ruling was contested politically for a number of years, but in June 2007, more than three-fourths of the state legislature voted to reject any proposal to amend the state constitution and reverse the Goodridge decision.[15]
Connecticut
In August 2004, GLAD, including Bonauto, filed suit in Connecticut[16] on behalf of seven gay and lesbian couples who wished to marry. The Connecticut legislature responded by passing a civil union law the next year.[17] On May 14, 2007, GLAD attorney Bennett Klein, joined by Bonauto, argued for the couples in the Connecticut Supreme Court.[18] On October 10, 2008, GLAD won a ruling that it was unjustified discrimination to place same-sex couples in the separate and lesser status of civil unions, and that sexual orientation was a "quasi-suspect" classification for equal protection purposes.[19]
Maine
In 2009, Maine became the first state to pass a same-sex marriage law through the legislature, instead of through the court system, and also have it signed into law by the Governor.[20] Bonauto was instrumental in the campaign to enact the law, and was the architect of an unprecedentedly large public hearing on April 22, 2009, where proponents and opponents presented their arguments.[21] After the law was passed, a "people's veto" referendum campaign was begun and the voters overturned the law in November 2009, by a 53–47 margin.[6][22] In the wake of this veto, Mary Bonauto was a leader in the coalition that came together to run a two-year public education campaign, that led in January 2012 to a direct ballot vote on the issue.[23] On November 6, 2012, voters confirmed the right of same-sex couples to receive a marriage license, the law taking effect on December 29, 2012, becoming the first state to do so by ballot vote.[24]
Obergefell v. Hodges
In March 2015, lawyers preparing to argue a consolidation of the Supreme Court cases titled Obergefell v. Hodges selected Bonauto to argue
DOMA
Gill v. Office of Personnel Management
In March 2009, Bonauto and GLAD, along with co-counsel from Foley Hoag, Jenner & Block, and Sullivan & Worcester, filed in
Pederson v. Office of Personnel Management
On November 9, 2010, Bonauto and GLAD filed a second major, multi-plaintiff lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) Section 3.[31] The case specifically addressed married couples in Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. On July 31, 2012, the Connecticut Federal District Court Judge Bryant ruled that DOMA is unconstitutional.[32] On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled DOMA Section 3 unconstitutional in United States v. Windsor.
See also
References
- ^ Bonauto, Mary (2015). "Bonauto, Mary" (PDF). GLBT Archive.
- ^ GLAD: "GLAD Now Stands for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders" February 23, 2016, accessed June 22, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f New York Times: "Toward a More Perfect Union," May 5, 2004, accessed June 29, 2010
- ^ National Conference of State Legislature: "Same-Sex Marriage Laws", accessed June 22, 2017
- ^ a b c Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (March 27, 2013). "In Fight for Marriage Rights, 'She's Our Thurgood Marshall'". New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
- ^ a b Portland Press Herald: "Mainer challenging U.S. Defense of Marriage Act," May 2, 2010, accessed June 29, 2010
- ^ Yale University: James Robert Brudner '83 Memorial Prize and Lectures', accessed December 1, 2010
- ^ "Bonauto makes Boston 50-most-powerful list". Portland Press Herald. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ "Mary Bonauto biography". LGBT History Month.
- ^ Mary Bonauto, Gay Marriage Hero Slate. June 2013.
- ^ Levenson, Eric (September 17, 2014). "Mary Bonauto and Harvard Math Professor Win $625,000 MacArthur 'Genius' Grants". Boston Globe. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- ^ [1] Harvard Gazette. May 2016.
- ^ Baker v. State December 20, 1999 Archived March 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ GLAD: "Goodridge et al. v. Dept. Public Health," November 18, 2003, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ New York Times: Pam Belluck, "Massachusetts Gay Marriage to Remain Legal," June 15, 2007, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ GLAD: Kerrigan & Mock v. Connecticut Dept. of Public Health, October 10, 2008, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ General Assembly, State of Connecticut: "An Act Concerning Civil Unions," April 20, 2005, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ GLAD: Kerrigan & Mock v. Connecticut Dept. of Public Health, October 10, 2008, accessed April 15, 2015
- ^ New York Times: Robert D. McFadden, "Gay Marriage Is Ruled Legal in Connecticut," October 10, 2008, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ New York Times: Abby Goodnough, "Maine Governor Signs Same-Sex Marriage Bill," May 6, 2009, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ GLAD: "GLAD Helps Make ME Hearing a Huge Success" Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ Bangor Daily News: "Statewide Results," November 10, 2009 Archived December 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ GLAD: "Victory! Maine Voters Say Yes to Marriage Equality" Archived 2015-04-08 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 3, 2015
- ^ National Conference of State Legislature: "Same-Sex Marriage Laws", accessed April 3, 2015
- ^ Dennison, Lyle (March 31, 2015). "Lawyers for same-sex marriage plea named". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
- ^ GLAD: Challenging Federal Marriage Discrimination, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ Christian Science Monitor: Will Buchanan, "Legal challenge of federal gay marriage ban begins," May 6, 2010, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ New York Times: Abby Goodnough and John Schwartz, "Judge Topples U.S. Rejection of Gay Unions," July 8, 2010, accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ Washington Post: Denise Lavoie, "White House silent on Mass. gay marriage ruling," July 9, 201[dead link], accessed July 12, 2010
- ^ GLAD: "Gill v. Office of Personnel Management Notice of Appeal" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 3, 2015
- ^ GLAD: Pedersen et al. v. Office of Personnel Management et al., accessed April 3, 2015
- ^ GLAD: "Pederson v. Office of Personnel Management" Archived 2012-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 3, 2015