Congressman Cleaver's Statement Following Today's Supreme Court Rulings

Press Release

Congressman Cleaver's statement following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional, and the Court's ruling that will allow same-sex marriages to resume in the state of California:

"Today is a victorious day in the fight for equal rights for all. Only a handful of the Bible's one million verses relate to same-sex behavior. Neither the Jewish prophets nor Jesus Christ ever spoke of it. What Jesus did talk about was love. He was all about teaching and preaching love. It was the main thing and the plain thing. It still is."

"I, like millions of Americans, yearn for the day when all people are treated as equals under the law. We have taken a step toward that today. A very, big step. We can no longer treat committed gay and lesbian couples as less important than everyone else. We can no longer treat children of gay and lesbian couples as if their parents, their families, and they, themselves, are somehow not as good as everyone else."

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and also serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus.

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