Celebrity Friday: The Straight Guy Who Will Argue Gay Marriage Before The Supreme Court

Chris Geidner has an interesting profile of Doug Hallward-Driemeier, the straight Canadian lawyer who on Tuesday April 28 will argue before the United States Supreme Court that states should not be allowed to ban recognition of the marriages of same-sex couples from another state.

While he said that the recognition question presents “a distinctive harm” to his clients because it amounts to Tennessee “destroy[ing], as a legal matter, families and marriages that have already been created,” he also said he does not expect the court to reach different answers on the two issues because “the arguments that the states have made are the same on both” questions.
“One of the things that I hope the justices appreciate is that this is not an issue that only affects — we are very clear in our brief that this is not about ‘gay marriage’ … it’s not a different kind of marriage, it’s about marriage and about allowing people who love each other to join in that institution,” he said. “It’s about my family members, my friends, my children. It affects me as it affects others.”
More than that, Doug Hallward-Dreiemeier knows that — while there are no cameras in the courtroom — the audio set to be released that day will be listened to by same-sex couples across the country, looking for signs about whether they will be able to marry or have their marriage recognized elsewhere once a decision comes down.
“It is a huge, huge honor,” he said, “and I sense the hopes and aspirations of so many people that are at stake here. That’s something I carry with me. And I’m just going to do everything I can.”

Hat/tip to Buzzfeed