The Supreme Court is expected decide whether California voters discriminated against gay people when they voted to ban same-sex marriage, and whether the federal Defense of Marriage Act — which prevents married gay couples from receiving federal marriage benefits — violates the Constitution. UCLA has experts.
 
Brad Sears, a lecturer at the UCLA School of Law, is executive director of the school's Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy. The institute is the country's first national think tank dedicated to issues of sexual orientation law and policy and the only research center at a law school dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
Contact:
Contact Sears directly at sears@law.ucla.edu or through the Williams Institute at 310-267-4382.
 
Gary Gates, senior research fellow at the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy and co-author of "The Gay and Lesbian Atlas," is an authority on the demographic and economic characteristics of same-sex couples in California. Gates co-authored an amicus brief cited in the May 2008 California Supreme Court decision that struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriages.
Contact:
Contact Gates directly at gates@law.ucla.edu or through the Williams Institute at 310-267-4382.
 
Grace Ganz Blumberg, UCLA professor of law, is an authority on marital property, family law and social welfare. She has written extensively on non-marital cohabitation and has commented frequently in news stories about the legal status of same sex-couples.
Media contacts:
Lauri Gavel | 310-206-2611 | gavel@law.ucla.edu
Sara Rouche | 310-206-2221 | rouche@law.ucla.edu
  
Jonathan Varat, professor of law, is an authority on constitutional law, the Supreme Court, federal courts and the separation of powers. He is co-author of the major constitutional law casebook "Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials."
Media contacts:
Lauri Gavel | 310-206-2611 | gavel@law.ucla.edu
Sara Rouche | 310-206-2221 | rouche@law.ucla.edu
 
Adam Winkler, professor of law, is a specialist in American constitutional law whose scholarship has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. His research has focused on an array of topics, including judicial independence and constitutional interpretation.
Media contacts:
Lauri Gavel | 310-206-2611 | gavel@law.ucla.edu
Sara Rouche | 310-206-2221 | rouche@law.ucla.edu
 
Eugene Volokh, Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, is a nationally recognized expert on the Supreme Court.
Media contacts:
Lauri Gavel | 310-206-2611 | gavel@law.ucla.edu
Sara Rouche | 310-206-2221 | rouche@law.ucla.edu