Statement: NEW Pride Agenda Responds to Legal Threat to Marriage Equality
Contact:
Max Schulman, max@anatgerstein.com, 347-861-4167
NEW Pride Agenda Responds to Legal Threat to Marriage Equality
Organization urges state elected officials to respond forcefully by enacting strengthened shield law, investing in gender-affirming care.
(August 11, 2025) –– The NEW Pride Agenda, New York State’s leading LGBTQIA+ advocacy organization, issued the following statement from Executive Director Kei Williams i in response to reports of a renewed legal challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which codified marriage equality for same-sex couples:
“This challenge by hateful extremists is the latest in a coordinated legal effort to destroy federal protections for LGBTQ+ people and enable a state-by-state dismantling of civil rights. This campaign has already succeeded in front of this Supreme Court in Dobbs and Skrmetti, ending reproductive rights and restricting access to gender-affirming care in states across the nation. Now, the far-right are setting their sights on marriage equality, and lawmakers in hostile states have already advanced legislation seeking to negate Obergefell.
“Simply put, the Supreme Court must respect precedent, uphold fundamental rights, and refuse to consider this twisted attack on LGBTQ+ Americans and our families.”
- Kei Williams, Executive Director
“Simply put, the Supreme Court must respect precedent, uphold fundamental rights, and refuse to consider this twisted attack on LGBTQ+ Americans and our families.
“Obergefell codified our right to marriage, and was the culmination of decades of tireless advocacy. Beyond that, the 2015 decision established equal citizenship under the 14th Amendment for same-sex couples. New York State was at the epicenter of this movement, and was one of the first states to pass legislation guaranteeing marriage equality.
“The NEW Pride Agenda emerged from this legacy of the marriage equality movement, and our work fights to address the inequities left in its wake. We remain steadfast in our mission to fortify New York as a beacon for freedom, to hold the line for equality, and to ensure our elected leaders protect the rights of all LGBTQ+ people.”
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