LGBTQ news and entertainment
This week from the American Foundation for Equal Rights:
• A big win in Florida
• Colorado supreme court orders two counties to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples
• An appeals court sets the date for oral arguments for two states, then says “never mind”
• The Department of Justice says it will file briefs in support of marriage equality when it reaches SCOTUS
With all the rulings, I thought I’d post a round up of where we are with same-sex marriage rulings and appeals so far:
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has announced it will hear arguments regarding Indiana and Wisconsin’s marriage ban cases on August 13th.
A week before that the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will will arguments regarding bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennesee.
The 10th Circuit Court has already decided Utah’s ban is unconstitutional and that state’s AG has announced they are heading to SCOTUS for final appeal.
We expect to hear any day now the verdict from the 4th Circuit Court in Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban case.
Hawaii, Idaho and Nevada get their day with the 9th Circuit Court in September.
And finally, Texas has filed an appeal with the 5th Circuit Court on that state’s marriage ban but no date for arguments has been scheduled at this time.
So – got all that?
• The one year celebration of Prop 8 decision at SCOTUS and the return of marriage equality to California.
• Currently awaiting a ruling in Virginia marriage equality case. Two district court decisions in our favor, and the 4th Circuit Court’s decision could happen any time now.
• Also this week, a Colorado judge will allow marriages to continue, even though the state’s marriage ban is still on the books.
• And new marriage equality cases in Idaho, briefs in multiple states, and a new survey in Louisiana.
District Court Judge Andrew Hartman ruled today that Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall can ignore the stay on a ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which found states cannot set gender requirements for marriage.
Hartman said same-sex marriage is still illegal in Colorado but that Hall’s behavior causes no harm. The ruling included the temporary measures that couples be informed that the licenses could be found invalid at some point in the future, and that clerks identify and note all same-sex marriage licenses to state agencies.
In his ruling, Hartman noted that every judge who has ruled on a same-marriage ban since the fall of DOMA last June has found it unconstitutional. He referred to Colorado’s prohibition is “hanging on by a thread.”
Following suit, word comes that Denver’s County Clerk will begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as soon as possible.
Governor Mike Pence of Indiana has ordered all state agencies to ignore the same-sex marriages that were performed in the state over three days following a federal judge’s ruling that the state’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional on June 25th.
From WTHR.com:
Pence defended the memo Wednesday and the sentiment expressed in it Wednesday afternoon. He said it was his job as governor to carry out the laws of the State of Indiana.
“The State of Indiana must operate in a manner with the laws of Indiana. So we have directed our state agencies earlier this week to conduct themselves in a way that respects current Indiana law, pending this matter’s process through the courts,” Pence said.
A federal judge in Indianapolis struck down the state’s gay marriage ban as unconstitutional that day, leading to hundreds of same-sex marriages around the state. But an appeals court stayed that ruling three days later after an appeal from the state attorney general’s office.
Statement from Hoosiers Unite for Marriage:
“Last month, Governor Pence held a summit about strengthening families. He lauded single parents, adoptive parents and marriages between one man and one woman. Notably absent was any mention of loving, committed same-sex couples and their families. The couples who said their vows during the three-day window when same-sex marriage was legal in Indiana are legally married, and they deserve the respect and recognition that comes with that commitment. We are deeply disappointed in the Governor’s decision not to recognize these marriages and families, and we will continue to fight for these couples to be treated equally. We look forward to the day when marriage equality is the law of the land so that these families no longer have to worry about politicians deciding the fate of their love.”
District Court Judge C. Scott Crabtree on Wednesday ruled the 2006 Colorado voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the state and federal constitutions. He immediately placed a stay on the ruling pending appeal.
This is the 24th consecutive ruling in favor of marriage equality since June of 2013,
Attorneys for nine couples argued that the state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.
Crabtree is the 16th judge to void a state’s gay marriage ban since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the federal government has to recognize gay marriages in the states.
Freedom To Marry issued this response:
Yet another court has concluded that there is no good reason for denying gay couples the freedom to marry, and has found marriage discrimination unconstitutional. It is time that Colorado’s gay couples and their loved ones be able to share in the joy and security that marriage brings, and time for the Supreme Court to bring the freedom to marry home nationwide. Every day of denial is a day of wrongful deprivation. Today’s latest victory in the Mountain West shows that all of America is ready for the freedom to marry.
You can read the ruling below.
Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver, who yesterday testified in the Monroe County marriage lawsuit, is quoted in this press release complaining that the state of Florida isn’t doing enough to “defend” marriage and that Liberty Counsel is doing all the heavy lifting:
“Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is giving only window dressing to the Florida Marriage Amendment.
“Bondi sent one of her staff attorneys to argue the case against the constitutional amendment, and her office filed a short, 14-page brief only a week before the court date.
“If Attorney General Pam Bondi does not want to present a vigorous defense, she owes it to the voters of Florida to step down and allow someone else to represent the interests of the State.
“I call on Governor Rick Scott to get off the sidelines and appoint an independent counsel who can adequately represent the people of Florida.”
Can somebody please call the waahmbulance?
Here’s a news report of the hearing that took place in Florida yesterday…
From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:
Big victories this week in Kentucky, and a ton of hearings coming up from one side of the country to the other.
There’s a battle of wills and a surprise move in Colorado.
And one of the Prop 8 lawyers is headed back to court — this time, as a judge.
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| Bishop George Wayne Smith |
Welcome news from the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri.
The City of St. Louis recently issued marriage licenses to four same-sex couples in opposition to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. The Attorney General for Missouri, Chris Koster, subsequently sued the city to stop further licenses from being issued.
Now, Episcopal Diocese of Missouri has issued a statement in support of overturning the ban:
Bishop George Wayne Smith said in a statement that he “supports St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and City Counselor Winston Calvert in their challenge to Missouri law prohibiting same-sex marriage.”
“Even as the Episcopal Church works to clarify our theological understanding of and pastoral practices around same-sex blessings, I believe that it is not the place of the State of Missouri to deny the privileges and responsibilities of marriage to anyone, basing that denial solely on the gender of the couple,” Smith said.
