BASF applauds the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on June 26 dismissing Hollingsworth v. Perry, which leaves intact the District Court ruling striking down California’s 2008 voter-approved Proposition 8 and opens the door to the resumption of same-sex marriages in the State of California.

In hearing the ruling, BASF President Christopher C. Kearney, Keker & Van Nest, said, “Today is a landmark day for Californians and a giant step forward in the fight for LGBT equality nationwide. The United States Supreme Court’s dismissal of the Hollingsworth v. Perry case on standing grounds removes the blight Proposition 8 has imposed on all Californians, thus allows LGBT Californians to marry once again, and restores to them and their families the equal treatment and equal dignity they deserve.”

BASF has long championed access to justice for all people, and has been in the vanguard of the fight for LGBT equality in California. In the 1990s, BASF issued the first published study of sexual orientation bias by an organized bar association and urged its member firms and legal departments to adopt best practices to ensure the retention and advancement of LGBT lawyers.

In 2007, BASF once again published a groundbreaking study of best practices in the hiring, retention, and advancement of LGBT lawyers.

Amy Todd-Gher, Valdez Noor Todd & Doyle, and Robert Augustine Depew, Employment Law Resources Group, co-chairs of BASF’s LGBT Committee issued a joint statement saying, “We are proud today, as officers of the justice system and as human beings, that these efforts have helped restore to LGBT Californians the fundamental right to marry. And we pledge that BASF will continue to support the fight for justice and equality for the LGBT community—and for all people—in California and across the country.”