Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and the Fight for Marriage Equality

This reenactment will feature the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) Reenactment Team and members of the Crowell community flexing their theater skills to play the roles of the defendants, lawyers, and judges in a story about the AAPI community and its fight for marriage equality. We will host a networking reception following the performance.

In 2015, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the 14th Amendment guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry. The fight for marriage equality, however, began decades earlier, with AAPIs playing a prominent role. For example, in 1931, a Filipino man was denied a license to marry a white woman because of California’s anti-miscegenation law. He sued and won in Roldan v. Los Angeles County.  And in 1990, when three same-sex couples were denied marriage licenses in Honolulu, they also sued. Their efforts in Baehr v. Miike led to the first decision in the country to invalidate a state restriction on same-sex marriage.

Our program tells the story of plaintiffs in Baehr v. Miike and examines the role of AAPIs in the fight for marriage equality through narration, reenactment of court proceedings, and historic photos.