Voting. It’s the key to the most basic American value, the one that makes the others real: self-government. Democracy. It’s why we fought the Revolutionary War. It’s what has made America a glowing aspiration for people around the world. The right to vote is what makes a country a true...

As you probably know, a couple of days ago the Supreme Court decided Christian Legal Society of Hastings College of the Law v. Martinez. The court ruled 5-4 that the Christian Legal Society (CLS) did not have a constitutional right to an exemption from the school's diversity policy....

Congress will begin taking up the possible repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" shortly, perhaps today. Here's why it is so important to get rid of it.

First, let's get clear about what "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" actually does. The country seems to...

Early in 1978, I hung out a shingle and began practicing law with three friends on Castro Street in San Francisco. It was before HIV turned all our lives upside down, but we soon realized that hospital ICU visitation policies were a big problem for the LGBT community. So many...

This is my second post on the Olson/Boies marriage case in federal court in San Francisco. This part covers the Supreme Court and what might happen if the case gets there. (My last post outlined the possible outcomes, their consequences, and what's likely to happen in the lower courts --...

Several people have asked me questions recently about the marriage case in federal court in San Francisco (the case brought by Ted Olson and David Boies). In this first post, I'll cover possible outcomes, consequences, what might happen in the court where the case is now, and what might happen...

The Supreme Court just issued one of its most disturbing decisions since Bush v. Gore in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal challenge to California’s Prop 8. Ironically, the plaintiffs' lawyers in Perry, Ted Olson and David Boies, represented opposing sides in Bush v. Gore. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme...

For their support of Proposition 8, the Mormon Church and the Knights of Columbus have been subjected to harsh criticism. They insist the criticism is unfair. All they did, they say, was exercise their democratic right to cast their vote on whether same-sex couples should be able to marry.

The Iowa Supreme Court decision striking down the state's exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage is the third from a state high court to treat government discrimination against gay people generally as a serious constitutional problem (the other two are the California and Connecticut marriage cases). All three courts say...

After losing an election, it’s important to look back and figure out why. That’s the only way to make sure that you don’t keep making the same mistakes.

There has been a lot of discussion about what the No On 8 campaign did, and whether it was right or wrong. Unfortunately,...

Frankly, I'm worried about Proposition 8 on the November California ballot. That's the initiative that would end marriage for same-sex couples.

There are reasons to feel good. The latest California Field Poll shows us ahead by a very respectable 55 percent to their 38. But when...