Policy Order O-5

WHEREAS: Cambridge has long been an unparalleled supporter of LGBTQ rights, justice and equality; and

WHEREAS: It has come to the attention of the Cambridge City Council that the Massachusetts Attorney General and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) are requesting that the City of Cambridge sign onto an amicus brief in support of their respective lawsuits challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); and

WHEREAS: In 2009, the Massachusetts Attorney General and GLAD filed challenges to DOMA, which prohibits federal recognition of marriages of same-sex couples.  Their cases were successful in the federal district court, and Judge Tauro decided that DOMA was unconstitutional; and

WHEREAS: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which was defending the lawsuit, appealed, and the case has since moved to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.  Since appealing, DOJ has changed its position based on President Obama and Attorney General Holder's view that DOMA is unconstitutional, and now has filed a brief setting forth why DOMA is unconstitutional; and

WHEREAS: The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives has intervened to defend DOMA; and

WHEREAS: A coalition of leading businesses and employers is forming to advise the First Circuit Court of Appeals on the ways in which DOMA harms businesses and employers; and

WHEREAS: The amicus brief filed by the business and employer community discusses DOMA's impact on businesses and employers; and

WHEREAS: DOMA imposes enormous costs in time, money, and morale for employers.  With over 16,000 same-sex couples legally married in Massachusetts (a number that increases every day), as well as D.C. and 5 other states licensing marriages and 4 other states recognizing fully or in part marriages (CA, MD, NM, and RI), DOMA's burden is growing; and

WHEREAS: Given Cambridge's extraordinary leadership on behalf of the LGBTQ community, the reasons for signing onto the amicus brief are strong; and

WHEREAS: Over 60 signatories, including large state and national companies

WHEREAS: Joining the amicus brief as a listed entity will send a strong message that Cambridge will not support inequality, discrimination and prejudice against the LGBQT community from the federal and state governments and private parties; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Council go on record supporting the Massachusetts Attorney General and GLAD challenging DOMA in the First Circuit Court of Appeals; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to instruct the City Solicitor to add the City of Cambridge as a signatory on the amicus brief; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of the order to the Massachusetts Attorney General and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders on behalf of the entire Cambridge City Council.