Law firm White & Case LLP is handling the case pro bono for LCR, and lead attorneys Dan Woods and Marty Meekins will be filing Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America in US Federal District Court for the Central District of California.
Log Cabin Executive Director Patrick Guerriero described the reason for the suit as follows:
"Public opinion, the experience of our allies, and the national security interests of our nation all lead to the inescapable conclusion that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly and honestly in our military," said Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director Patrick Guerriero.The suit charges that the "policy imposes a discriminatory set of rules on gay and lesbian members of the Armed Forces in violation of their constitutional rights of due process, freedom of speech, and equal protection."
"A lawsuit should not be necessary, when public opinion overwhelmingly favors gays and lesbians serving openly and honestly. A lawsuit should not be necessary when the experience of our allies in the war on terror, including Great Britain, Israel and Australia, all allow gays and lesbians to serve openly and honestly. A lawsuit should not be necessary when our military has lost thousands of needed military personnel under this policy. However, under these circumstances, where we are a nation at war fighting a global war against terrorism, we can no longer sit by and wait for our elected officials to find the political courage to do the right thing," said Guerriero.
White and Case attorneys agreed to take on the new challenge based on Supreme Court decisions in Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld.