Co-counsel in federal Prop 8 challenge calls Griffin ‘a visionary leader, a brilliant strategist, and a remarkably effective consensus-builder’
SAN FRANCISCO (March 1, 2012) — With today’s announcement that Chad Griffin will lead the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued the following statement:
“I’ve had the honor of working closely with Chad Griffin in the fight for marriage equality for many years, and I’m proud to serve as co-counsel in the current federal challenge to Prop 8 that he masterminded. He is a visionary leader, a brilliant strategist, and a remarkably effective consensus-builder. I’ve also come to regard Chad as a great friend and trusted adviser, and I couldn’t be more proud of him for his appointment to lead the Human Rights Campaign. Chad’s boundless energy and passion for justice will be enormous assets to the LGBT community and its allies in the struggle for equality.”
The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office intervened alongside the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which Griffin founded, in its federal challenge to Prop 8 on Aug. 19, 2009 for the purpose of demonstrating the public sector’s interest in marriage equality. AFER’s legal team, led by Theodore Olson and David Boies, has successfully demonstrated in two federal courts so far that Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution by denying millions of people equal protection under the law. The case is: Perry v. Brown, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, case numbers 10-16696 and 11-16577.
Related Documents:
PDF of the Chad Griffin statement presskit (March 2, 2012)