Tag: gay marriage

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Texas ban on marriage equality ruled unconstitutional

This gives the anti-gay forces a record of 0-5 in federal courts.

“Today’s court decision is not made in defiance of the great people of Texas or the Texas Legislature, but in compliance with the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedent,” Judge Orlando Garcia, a Clinton appointee, wrote. “Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our U.S. Constitution.”

From the San Antonio Express-News:

A federal judge in San Antonio has declared Texas’ ban on gay marriage unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, however, also issued a stay, meaning the ban stays in effect for the time being.

One lesbian couple had to go to Massachusetts to get married, and they want Texas to recognize the union. A second gay couple have a courtship of 17 years and want to get married here in their home state.

Both sued the state in federal court aiming to overturn the ban on same-sex marriage, saying it is unconstitutional.

LGBT Advocates immediately issued statements on the ruling:

Freedom To Marry

“Today the 6th federal judge in a row has ruled – in Texas – that there is simply no legitimate justification for denying marriage to loving gay and lesbian couples. The court’s holding is solid and serious, and follows the language and logic of the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling last year and the Constitution’s clear command. With 47 marriage cases in 25 states now moving forward, and the possibility that a freedom to marry case will again reach the Supreme Court as soon as 2015, we must continue the conversations and progress — Texan to Texan, American to American — that show that all of America is ready for the freedom to marry.”

Human Rights Campaign

This injunction sends a powerful message that gay and lesbian Texans are being harmed every by inequality, and that these plaintiff couples who we’re proud to call members of the HRC family are very likely to succeed in striking down Texas’ ban on marriage equality. This is a historic day in the heart of the South, and I can’t stress enough how important it is to move quickly until loving couples in all 50 states feel the full reach of this victory for equality.” The Texas ruling comes on the heels of a year-long string of electoral, judicial and legislative victories for marriage equality. Recently the New Mexico Supreme Court and federal district judges in Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Ohio and Kentucky have ruled in favor of marriage for lesbian and gay couples.

Equality Texas

Chuck Smith, executive director of Equality Texas, called the decision “a huge victory that moves Texas one step closer to the freedom to marry.” “The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Windsor made it clear that animus or moral disapproval is not an acceptable justification for denying any American their constitutional right to equal protection of the law,” Smith said. “We are gratified to see Judge Garcia uphold the Constitution of the United States and declare that Texas’ restrictions on the freedom to marry are unconstitutional and unenforceable. We anxiously await the day when the United States Supreme Court will reach the same conclusion.”

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Marriage equality comes early to Illinois

A federal judge in Illinois ruled today that same-sex marriage can begin immediately:

“There is no reason to delay further when no opposition has been presented to this Court and committed gay and lesbian couples have already suffered from the denial of their fundamental right to marry,” U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman said in her ruling.

Although Illinois was the 16th state to legalize marriage equality, the law wasn’t slated to begin until June 1st of this year.

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Virginia: Judge strikes down marriage equality ban

Late Thursday night, a federal judge in Norfolk struck down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage, saying it violates the constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection:

“The Court finds Va. Const. Art. I, § 15-A, Va. Code §§ 20-45.2, 20-45.3, and any other Virginia law that bars same-sex marriage or prohibits Virginia’s recognition of lawful same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions unconstitutional. These laws deny Plaintiffs their rights to due process and equal protection guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

District Federal Court Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen had stated earlier that she would to rule quickly after hearing arguments in Norfolk on Thursday in one of two challenges to Virginia’s ban.

From the Washington Post:

Wright Allen opened her decision with a quote from Mildred Loving, who was at the center of the Virginia case that the Supreme Court used in 1967 to strike down laws banning interracial marriage.

Wright Allen added: Tradition is revered in the Commonwealth, and often rightly so. However, tradition alone cannot justify denying same-sex couples the right to marry any more than it could justify Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage.

Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring recently changed the state’s legal position on the issue and joined two gay couples in asking the ban be struck down.

Herring said the state will continue to enforce the ban until the legal process is over.

This victory makes Virginia the fifth state in recent weeks where courts have ruled in favor of marriage equality.

Human Rights Campaign released this statement:

Yet another court has upheld the fundamental idea that gay and lesbian Americans are entitled to full equality under the law. Nearly fifty years ago, another Virginia case struck down bans on interracial marriage across the country, and now this commonwealth brings renewed hope for an end to irrational barriers to marriage for loving and committed couples across the country.

“Following recent decisions in Utah, Oklahoma, Ohio and Kentucky this Virginia ruling proves that marriage equality is once again on the fast track to the United States Supreme Court. From the South to the Midwest, this historic progress sends a message that no American should have to wait for equality, no matter where they live. “Right now this nation is divided into two Americas—one where full legal equality is nearly a reality, and the other where even the most basic protections of the law are nonexistent for loving gay and lesbian couples. We cannot and will not tolerate that patchwork of discrimination, and we won’t stop fighting until fairness and dignity reaches each and every American in all 50 states.”

(source)

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Indiana State Senator: “Second Sentence” issue dead – no public vote on anti-gay marriage referendum in 2014

https://twitter.com/MikeDelph/status/434037631131742208

Indiana State Senator Mike Delph just tweeted the message above: “HJR3 second sentence is officially dead in the 2014 IGA. Not enough support to reinstate it on 2nd reading.”

As the debate continues today in Indiana, this would be good news for the LGBT community.

Constitutional amendments must pass in consecutive General Assemblies with identical language before going to the voters. By removing the “second sentence” (which bars ANY kind of legal relationship “identical or substantially similar” between same-sex couples), the bill will need to pass again in the next legislative session.

The state House removed the sentence earlier this year when approving the measure. LGBT opponents needed the Senate to restore the language and then fight to keep it in during a “conference” debate with House and Senate.

This means the issue won’t reach voters until 2016 at the earliest. And with marriage equality support growing every day, hopefully this won’t even be an issue by then.

Hurray!

Celebrate!  Happy Dance!

(h/t Good As You)

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Indiana: State Senate to vote on anti-gay marriage bill today

The full Indiana Senate is set to hear and vote on HJR3, the bill that would place a ban on same-sex marriage into the state constitution.

The Senate Rules Committee approved an amended version of the bill which does not include a ban on civil unions – and therefore does not match the version passed by the last legislature.

IF the amended version passes today, the earliest a ban could be placed on the public ballot will be 2016.

Republicans hold a large majority over Dems (37-13) in the Senate, so passage of the bill is fairly assured. Best hope is for the amended ban to pass.

Stay tuned.

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Anti-gay Brian Brown whines about Kentucky marriage equality ruling

Brian Brown, president of the anti-gay hate group National Organization for Marriage, issued this statement today after a federal judge ruled Kentucky’s ban on recognition of same-sex marriages from other states was unconstitutional based on the 14th Amendment:

“Today yet another federal judge has entered the competition for lawlessness on the marriage front,” said Brian Brown, NOM President.

“Today’s decision emphasizes the need for Congressional action to prevent our states’ marriage laws from spiraling further into chaos.

“Congress needs to explicitly reinforce the sovereign right of the states to make their own determinations regarding marriage, and to have those determinations respected by the federal government-which would include having those determinations protected from coerced modification through dubious readings of the 14th amendment such as we have here.”

I would suggest that, instead of “lawlessness,” perhaps the problem isn’t with the judges who rule over and over and over again on the unconstitutionality of these laws.

When so many courts cases (Prop 8; DOMA; marriage equality in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Utah) come to the same conclusion – maybe it’s not the judges.

Maybe, Brian Brown, the problem is you.

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Add Louisiana to the list of states being sued for discriminating against marriage equality

The statewide LGBT human rights organization, Forum for Equality Louisiana, has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s constitutional ban on marriage equality based on the lack of recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Via press release:

The lawsuit charges that Louisiana’s refusal to recognize same-sex marriages violates the US constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. The lawsuit also asserts that state officials infringe the couples’ First Amendment rights by requiring them to claim that they are unmarried on state tax returns.

The prestigious New Orleans law firm of Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann filed the suit in US District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, on behalf of Forum for Equality Louisiana and four couples who are members of the organization.

The basis of the equal protection violation claim is that Louisiana recognizes marriages legally performed elsewhere, including marriages that cannot be entered into inside the state, such as marriages between first cousins or common-law marriages. Louisiana singles out only same-sex marriages for unequal treatment, a violation of the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process.

So just to be clear – right now, you can marry your 1st cousin in Alabama or Tennessee, move to Louisiana and THAT marriage will be recognized. BUT if you marry your same-sex spouse in California or New York, your marriage license is null and void as far as Louisiana is concerned?

That is messed up.

And for the record – Discrimination.

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Interactive map of the US covering current marriage equality rights

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/same-sex-marriage/

The Washington Post has created an interactive map where you can click on each state to see it’s current status regarding marriage equality rights  Plus you can click to see all the states that support or oppose those rights as well as those states that offer limited LGBT civil protections.

Click on over to see where your state currently stands on same-sex marriage.

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Scotland: Marriage equality passes 105-18

The Associated Press reports that the Scottish Parliament has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a same-sex marriage bill, allowing the first such ceremonies to take place by the end of the year.

Scottish Health Secretary Alex Neil called the bill’s approval “one of the great historic days of the parliament.”

Good times, kids.  Remember this… 🙂

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Scotland’s marriage equality bill to be given final approval today

The final vote on marriage equality today will take place today in Scotland.

Although LGBT couples in Scotland have civil partnership protections, the Marriage and Civil Partnerships Bill would provide full marriage equality to Scots.

The legislation is expected to pass with a wide margin.

From BBC:

The legislation, which is facing its final vote in the Holyrood parliament, passed its previous parliamentary hurdle by 98 votes to 15, with five abstentions.

MSPs have been allowed a free vote, rather than along party lines, and voting numbers for the last stage are expected to remain broadly the same as on the previous occasion.

Gay rights organisations, including the Equality Network and Stonewall Scotland, and a range of other groups, have supported the legislation.

But the Scottish Catholic Church and Church of Scotland oppose the move, and have said they have no plans to conduct same-sex marriages.

Same-sex marriages will begin in England and Wales on March 29th.

Scotland’s new law won’t take effect until later this fall.