Tag: gay marriage

Posted on

Arkansas: Hopeful same-sex couples wait in Eureka Springs to marry

The Carroll County Clerk is refusing to issue marriage licenses this morning to same-sex couples, even though Circuit Court Judge Chris Piazza ruled yesterday that Arkansas’ ban violated both the U.S. and Arkansas Constitutions.

The clerk has told the crowd that she “has not been given permission” to issue the licenses.

The Carroll County Clerk’s office in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, which The Advocate has called the “Gayest small town in America” has regular Saturday hours, and in the wake of the judge’s order, which has not yet been stayed, same-sex couples have lined up expecting to be issued marriage licenses. Clergy have gathered in an adjacent park ready to marry couples on the spot.

Lawyers are now in conference with the clerk, and the crowds have not disbursed.

Apparently, lawyers are now speaking with the clerk as the crowd waits.

(from The New Civil Rights Movement)

Posted on

Two years ago today: President Obama supports marriage equality

Two years ago today, President Obama sat down with Robin Roberts of ABC News and announced for the first time that he supported marriage equality.

Thank you Mr. President.

“At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that– for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that — I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.

Now — I have to tell you that part of my hesitation on this has also been I didn’t want to nationalize the issue. There’s a tendency when I weigh in to think suddenly it becomes political and it becomes polarized.

And what you’re seeing is, I think, states working through this issue — in fits and starts, all across the country. Different communities are arriving at different conclusions, at different times. And I think that’s a healthy process and a healthy debate.

And I continue to believe that this is an issue that is gonna be worked out at the local level, because historically, this has not been a federal issue, what’s recognized as a marriage.”

Posted on

Marriage News Watch – May 5, 2014

From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

• South Dakota’s Attorney General says he’ll fight a lesbian couple in court to stop them from having their marriage recognized.

• Alaska’s highest court has ruled against the state’s marriage ban after a deliberation of over a year and a half.

• Several new lawsuits, plus a major ruling coming this week in Arkansas.

Posted on

Marriage equaity ruling in Arkansas to be issued by next Friday

According to the Washington Blade, Judge Chris Piazza will issue his ruling on the marriage equality case in Arkansas by next Friday:

In a notice dated May 1 to attorneys in the case, Summer McCoy, a law clerk for the Pulaski County Circuit Court, says Judge Chris Piazza will take an addition week to consider the issue, then make a decision.

“Judge Piazza has asked me to notify you that he would like to take an additional week to consider the case law, briefs of parties, and arguments of counsel,” McCoy writes. “He feels confident that he will have a ruling for the parties no later than Friday, May 9th.”

The clerk doesn’t say whether the judge is inclined to rule one way or another on marriage equality when he makes his decision.

Posted on

Colorado: Same-sex marriage support continues to rise

A new poll by Quinnipiac shows support for marriage equality is still on the rise in Colorado.

From Politico:

On the issue of same-sex marriage, 61 percent of voters support allowing same-sex couples to marry in the state and 33 percent are opposed.

Democrats support same-sex marriage in the state 85 to 12 percent, while Republicans are opposed 58 to 34 percent.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted April 15 to 21 and surveyed 1,298 registered Colorado voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

The bolding above is mine.

It’s important to note that the survey size – 1,298 – is substantial for a statewide poll. These numbers exceed the national average which puts current support at 55-58% depending on the poll.

Currently, there are two lawsuits in Colorado pushing for marriage equality.

Posted on

South Dakota will soon see legal challenge filed against same-sex marriage ban

This weekend, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges will marry a lesbian couple from South Dakota, setting the stage for a soon-to-be-filed lawsuit aimed at overturning South Dakota’s same-sex marriage ban.

From TwinCities.com:

The couple, Nancy Robrahn, 68, and Jennie Rosenkranz, 72, say that along with two other gay South Dakota couples, they plan on filing a federal class-action lawsuit against state officials.

Robrahn and Rosenkranz will argue that South Dakota should recognize same-sex marriages when performed outside of the state. In addition, the suit will seek to overturn South Dakota’s statewide same-sex marriage ban enacted by a constitutional amendment in 2006.

A spokesman for Hodges said she does not know Robrahn and Rosenkranz personally, but responded positively after those working with them reached out to her office.

Once the lawsuit is filed,  only North Dakota, Alaska and Montana will remain as states banning same-sex marriage without legal challenges.

Robrahn and Rosenkranz have been together for 27 years. In March they were denied a marriage license by the clerk’s office in South Dakota’s Pennington County.

Posted on

Oregon’s marriage equality ban has it’s day in court

Yesterday,  standing before Judge Michael McShane, four couples who have filed a challenge to Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban asked the court to strike down the discriminatory law.  The state of Oregon, having found the law unconstitutional, agreed with the plaintiffs and asked for the same resolution.

From ABC News:

No comments were made in favor of the ban, so lawyers on both sides of the case were in the rare position of asking for the same ruling from the judge. Oregon’s attorney general, Democrat Ellen Rosenblum, has said the ban is legally indefensible and has refused to offer arguments in favor of keeping it.

Judge Michael McShane did not say which way he was leaning. His questioning focused heavily on how he should apply precedents from higher courts and whether he should delay implementation of his ruling until appeals courts sort out gay marriage cases pending around the country.

The judge is deciding two parallel cases. The couples who filed suit are asking him to declare the ban unconstitutional and allow same-sex couples to wed. They also want an order that same-sex marriages performed in other states must be recognized in Oregon.

McShane has agreed to hear a petition from the Washington DC based National Organization for Marriage, who request standing to defend the anti-gay law. The hearing will be on May 14th. McShane has said he will not rule until that hearing. Should he grant standing to NOM, there will be a second hearing for oral arguments.