Tag: gay marriage

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Poll: Majority of Americans in non-marriage equality states support the rights of gays to marry

A new poll by Freedom To Marry shows that in states that do NOT have marriage equality, a majority of Americans support the right to marry the person you love.

From Buzzfeed:

Of the new polling, Evan Wolfson of Freedom To Marry said, “That shows the momentum. We have majority support in the non-marriage states, in the states that still discriminate. And this is the first poll to show that. It’s conveying to the court and to the next wave of decision makers that America is ready.”

The survey, conducted Dec. 2–8, 2013, by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research for Freedom to Marry, broke down support into regions, with Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wisconsin respondents — the central region — favoring marriage equality by a 23-point margin (59% favor, 36% oppose). Respondents in the western region — Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming — favored marriage by a 19-point margin (53% favor, 34% oppose). In the South, which included Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia, respondents were split evenly (46% favor, 46% oppose).

In addition,  56% of the survey’s respondents believe that it is likely that marriage for same-sex couples will be legal in their state in a couple of years.

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Virginia Attorney General says gay marriage ban unconstitutional, joins fight for repeal

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring

Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring has announced the state’s ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional, and he would support gay couples who have filed lawsuits challenging the state’s ban.

“After thorough legal review, I have now concluded that Virginia’s ban on marriage between same sex couples violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on two grounds: marriage is a fundamental right being denied to some Virginians, and the ban unlawfully discriminates on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender,” Herring said.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s office, Ellen Qualls, added that “We will file a brief that will change the commonwealth’s legal position and we will argue along with the plaintiffs.”

Herring’s announcement follows recent court rulings in which federal judges struck down gay marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma.

(source)

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Indiana: House committee approves marriage equality ban in 9-3 vote

After moving the bill to a more conservative committee, the Speaker of the House got his anti-gay bill to the floor.

Freedom Indiana issued this statement:

We’re disappointed, but we’re more disappointed in the jury-rigged process than the outcome today.

The traditional legislative path for this divisive amendment was completely upended when Speaker Bosma decided he had to switch committees to shore up enough Republican votes to move it to the floor. But we are not deterred, and we will continue our fight against HJR-3 for as long as it takes to defeat this harmful amendment.

Lawmakers heard today from Hoosiers whose lives will be directly and negatively affected if this language is enshrined in our Constitution, and those voices will only grow stronger the longer the issue of protecting our friends, neighbors and families is up for debate.

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Indiana House Speaker moves anti-marriage equality bill to different committee

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma has taken an unusual move and transferred the “currently under consideration” same-sex marriage ban to a different committee — where it looks to have a better chance of passing — after the measure appeared to stall.

He said the proposed amendment to the state constitution, known as House Joint Resolution 3, will be moved from the House Judiciary Committee to the Elections and Apportionment Committee.

Democrats called the move “embarrassing.”

“This is what happens when you have a really bad idea and get over committed to it,” Democrat and Judiciary Committee member Rep. Ed DeLaney said. “You start breaking the procedures. You start attacking the structure of the system. That’s what the speaker has done.”

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, said, “Instead of letting hours of testimony and the democratic process play out, the Speaker of the House has decided to start the clock over.

“Sometimes the legislative process does not garner the expected result, but that does not mean one gets to change the rules in the middle of the game,” he added.

The measure had a hearing last week in the Judiciary Committee, but House Republican leaders decided against bringing it to a vote amid concerns that three GOP lawmakers might vote against it and kill the amendment.

Asked if he was worried about the perception of moving the bill because it might have been defeated, Bosma said he is more concerned about the questionable path the bill appeared to be taking in committee.

Read more at IndyStar.com

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State of Florida sued over same-sex marriage ban

Florida is now officially the next state to enter the marriage equality fray as 6 couples sue the state over it’s same-sex marriage ban:

Via press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

The lawsuit argues that Florida’s laws barring same-sex couples from marriage violate the United States Constitution by denying them the legal protections and equal dignity that having the freedom to marry provides.

The couples are from Miami and the surrounding area. Four of the couples are raising children, and another couple have an adult child and two grandchildren. The couples are: Catherina Pareto and Karla Arguello; Dr. Juan Carlos Rodriguez and David Price; Vanessa and Melanie Alenier; Todd and Jeff Delmay; Summer Greene and Pamela Faerber; and Don Price Johnston and Jorge Isaias Diaz.

They are represented by the law firm Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, attorney Elizabeth F. Schwartz, attorney Mary B. Meeks, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).

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ACLU sues state of Utah for not recognizing gay married couples

The ACLU has filed suit with the state of Utah for not recognizing legally performed same-sex marriages that took place between the time a federal judge found the state’s ban unconstitutional and when the US Supreme Court issued a stay on any further marriages while the case was under appeal.

The Governor of Utah announced at that time that the more than 1,300 marriages performed would be “put on hold” until the appeals worked their way through the legal system.

From The ACLU:

“These couples were legally married under Utah law and their unions must be treated the same as any other Utah marriage,” said John Mejia, legal director of the ACLU of Utah. “Even our attorney general said that the marriages were entitled to full recognition by the state at the time they were performed.  Regardless of what ultimately happens in the federal challenge to Utah’s marriage ban, the marriages that already occurred are valid and must be recognized now.”

 The lawsuit argues that once same-sex couples are legally married in Utah, they gain protections that cannot retroactively be taken away under the due process clauses of the Utah and United States Constitution.

 Some couples not only wanted to get married to demonstrate their commitment to each other, but also to ensure protection for their children. As a married couple, each parent can establish a legal connection to their children even if they’re not the biological parent or previously recognized adoptive parent. Otherwise, Utah law allows single parents to adopt, but forbids an unmarried partner from being recognized as a parent to the other’s biological or already-adopted children, which could have devastating legal implications.

Read more at the ACLU of Utah website.

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Marriage News Watch – January 20, 2014

From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

A huge victory in Oklahoma this week, with yet another marriage ban declared unconstitutional. Now comes the appeal, in the same federal circuit as the Utah case.

We’ll take a look at what to expect.

Plus, more progress across the country, from Indiana to Texas to Idaho and Georgia.

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Attorneys for Utah ask for more time to figure out why they are taking away people’s rights

Attorneys for the state of Utah apparently need more time to devise a plan to deny Utah citizens their civil rights.  From Deseret News:

Attorneys for the state asked the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday for a 10-day extension of a Jan. 27 deadline for initial arguments.

In its motion, the state says it needs an extension to complete a “fulsome, detailed and quality” brief on the constitutional questions surrounding Utah’s definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman. It also says the state needs help from its newly hired outside counsel to prepare and file the brief.

The 10th Circuit put the case on a fast track after receiving Utah’s notice of appeal last month.

The case was fast tracked due to Utah’s request. Now the state says they don’t have enough time to get their arguments together?

If you don’t know what your arguments are, then maybe you shouldn’t be filing to take away people’s rights Utah.

(source)

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George Takei on Utah’s governor: “He believes in governing by hysteria”

George Takei, whose always been fabulous, continues to be an outspoken voice of reason for the LGBT community. This time, he’s addressing the marriage equality hysteria in Utah and the state’s governor. From the Huffington Post:

“Gov. Herbert is consciously bringing harm to 2,600 citizens of Utah,” Takei, an outspoken advocate of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, is quoted by The Salt Lake Tribune as saying. “That’s mean-spirited. He didn’t have to do that. Your governor is trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.”

The 76-year-old actor, who married longtime partner, Brad Altman, in 2008, didn’t stop at that. “I’m stunned by his stupidity,” he told Deadline. “Apparently he believes in governing by hysteria — that’s the only way it can interpreted.”

Takei is in Salt Lake City preparing for the Jan. 18 premiere of “To Be Takei” at the Sundance Film Festival.  You can watch a tease of the film below:

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Jon Stewart breaks down marriage equality in red states

Via Mediaite:

Jon Stewart was admittedly surprised Thursday night at the gains gay marriage is making even in strongly red states like Utah in Oklahoma, even if in one of those cases people are stuck in a complex Schrodinger’s marriage paradox. Utah officially recognized gay marriage, except that it then decided not to, but then the federal government stepped in, so they’re sort of married, but not fully, and… well, Stewart couldn’t really make heads or tails of it.

Stewart also mocked Louis Gohmert for saying that pro-gay marriage judges need “plumbing lessons”, explaining that there are male-to-male, female-to-female, and two-male-one-female pipe parts that actually exist, and Stewart couldn’t help getting a little aroused by them.