Washington, DC – GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality submitted friend-of-the-court briefs to the US Supreme Court, providing the expertise of GLMA’s health professional membership to the Court and joining a chorus of organizations and individuals in support of marriage equality.

GLMA’s amicus briefs in Hollingsworth v. Perry (challenge to California’s Proposition 8) and United States v. Windsor (challenge to federal DOMA, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act) highlight for the justices the scientific and clinical evidence that sexual orientation is an innate human characteristic.

The briefs cite decades of studies of sexual orientation establishing that genetic, hereditary, hormonal and biological influences are major factors in determining sexual orientation. The briefs also show how the evidence used by supporters of Proposition 8 and DOMA to show that sexual orientation is not innate is scientifically unreliable or wholly misconstrued.

“GLMA’s brief explains the science behind the conclusion that sexual orientation is an innate human characteristic that deserves the full and equal protection of the law,” said GLMA Executive Director Hector Vargas. “As health professionals, our members experience firsthand how the denial of marriage equality impacts the health and well-being of LGBT people, which is why GLMA is asking the Supreme Court to rule Prop 8 and DOMA are unconstitutional.”

GLMA is represented on the amicus briefs by partner Nicholas O’Donnell of Sullivan & Worcester LLP, a Boston-based law firm.