Protecting Gay and Lesbian Families From Eviction From Their Homes: The Quest for Equality for Gay and Lesbian Families in Braschi v. Stahl Associates

As indicated above, much of the Author's professional life has been involved in writing about and litigating Braschi-related matters. However, the theme of this Conference-how law and its practitioners affect issues of freedom, equality, and justice-has given the Author the opportunity to begin to address questions raised when the Author first watched the tape of the Braschi oral argument and then read the ACLU briefs, but which the Author has not had the opportunity to address since then. Those questions are: 1) What role did Braschi's lawyers play in the Court's formulation of a functional definition of family? 2) Was the Braschi Court fearlessly entering a brave new world of gay and lesbian equality, leading the legal system into a recognition of same-sex families, or was it playing catch-up, i.e., recognizing what had already become the social and cultural reality of functional families-gay, lesbian, and other?

The Author's presentation at the conference on these questions, which is somewhat further developed here, was an attempt to begin to sketch the contours of answers to those questions.