Jump To • Introduction • Questions Presented For Review • List Of All Parties • Table Of Contents • Table Of Cited Authorities • Jurisdiction • Statement Of The Case • Reasons For Granting The Petition • Appendix A. Opinion of the United States Tax Court, filed July 14, 2000 • Appendix B. Opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, filed April 8, 2001 • Appendix C. House of Representatives Congressional Record, July 12, 1996 • Appendix D. United States Senate Congressional Record, September 10, 1996 • Appendix E. Letter from University of Chicago Hospitals Human Resources Department, November 13, 2000

REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION

Judge Laro in his decision states "Petitioner is homosexual." Twenty years ago this would have been a demeaning accusation. Through the evolution of society, that means only that petitioner has standing. One of the few cases so far to recognize gay partnerships is In re Kowalski, 478N.W. 2d 790, Minn. App (1991), where guardianship of an auto accident victim was given to the partner over the parents. My partner has a drug addiction for which he recently went through a rehabilitation program. This treatment was made possible because the company I work for offers partner insurance to its employees. Appendix E is a letter from my current employer regarding those benefits. In addition to GAO/OGC-97-16 Defense of Marriage Act, this provides "real world" evidence of the harm and unequal treatment homosexual families must deal with on a daily basis. We are not talking small numbers. We are talking approximately 25 million Americans who do not feel free to support their friends and families because they fear repercussions from work, associates, and government. This is not a unique issue for the United States of America. This is an issue that much of the world is starting to deal with. Unfortunately, the United States has chosen to deal with it by passing the Defense of Marriage Act. The law may not have been in effect during the years in question, but the attitudes that led to its passage certainly were. This law would be considered frivolous if it were not for the discrimination behind its enactment. The Court is requested to void the law, preferably with a suggestion that the law be re-enacted with a clause that supports homosexuals as well as heterosexuals. The United States needs to be a leader in human rights throughout the world. The treatment of homosexuals is an area where we are currently failing. The petitioner can only offer the Courts the opportunity to review and rectify the situation. As former Chief Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit writes in his book Sex and Reason, homosexuals deserve equal treatment and recognition; we just won't call it marriage.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert Mueller, pro se 311 Maple Downers Grove, IL 60515 (630)541-6784