LGBTQ news and entertainment
Marriage News Watch is traveling the country to see what’s happening in different states with marriage equality.
This week Matt Baume visits Nevada and covers the latest news from Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia.
More info at afer.org.
Former governor of Florida – currently running to regain that office – has been endorsed by the HRC.
Crist has promised to bring marriage equality to the state.
I am honored & grateful to be endorsed by @EqualityFL and @HRC. Let’s make FL more fair: http://t.co/PCb6OZJNQ4
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) June 12, 2014
|
| Receipt from Transfer Pizzeria and Cafe |
Last Friday, with the late afternoon announcement that Wisconsin’s same-sex marriage ban had been found unconstitutional by a federal judge, Christopher Graham called his partner Andrew Capelle and made a dash for the Milwaukee County Court house – they were getting married!
And marry they did 🙂
After their own ceremony, the couple stayed to watch other shiny happy people enjoy the freedom to marry, and then headed off to celebrate with friends. They found themselves at Transfer Pizzeria & Cafe where another surprise would cap the happy day.
From Christopher Graham’s Facebook:
Yesterday, my husband and I could legally get married in Wisconsin. After our ceremony (and staying to witness several others) we stopped in last night for dinner to celebrate. When the check came, our server, Melissa, told us that our bill had been taken care of by the staff.
I just wanted to take a moment and thank you personally and publicly for the very kind gesture. It was an amazing day that we will never forget, especially how your restaurant and staff made it even more wonderful. Thank you!!
Just goes to show you that Wisconsin was and is more than ready for marriage equality.
If you’re in Milwaukee – make sure you stop by and see the warm and friendly folks at the Transfer Pizzeria & Cafe.
Congratulations to the happy couple!
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb denied Wisconsin Attorney General’s request to stay her ruling issued last Friday which declared the state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
Crabb indicated that a stay could be issued at some point, but she scheduled a hearing for June 19th to hear both sides thoughts on the implications of a stay.
“I will consider a stay as to what’s in the (final order,) but I’m not going to act today,” Crabb said at a Monday afternoon hearing.
For the time being, some counties will continue to issue marriage licenses to same-sex oouples. Dane, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties have issued over 200 marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, while others like Washington and Racine say they await more definitive orders.
From the Journal Sentinel:
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, a Democrat, stepped out of Crabb’s hearing Monday and said he would continue to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
“The status quo is what we’re doing now and (19) other counties, which is issuing marriage licenses,” McDonell told reporters.
Backing up McDonell was David Gault, an assistant corporation counsel in Dane County, which is controlled by a Democratic county executive and liberal county board. Gault said Crabb’s decision Friday was “unambiguous” and that there is no prohibition on same-sex couples getting married.
“We’re not speculating,” he said. “We’re following the black letter of her decision.”
Wisconsin law dictates that you must apply for a marriage license in the county with which a you live. So, couples in Washington county, for example, are still blocked from getting married until Crabb issues final orders on the ruling.
Attorney General JB Van Hollen has also filed a request for stay with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
(source)
From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:
• Wisconsin’s marriage ban found unconstitutional
• There have been more big defeats for the National Organization for Marriage
• Utah officials resist a ruling that they must recognize the marriage licenses that the state issued to gay and lesbian couples last winter
• Pennsylvania voters show their support for the freedom to marry
FOX News has no idea that marriage equality is being legalized across the country.
Via Media Matters:
For the four states – New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Pennsylvania – where same-sex marriage has taken effect as a result of court rulings post-Windsor, Fox News has provided a scant two minutes and 14 seconds of coverage, compared with nearly 16 minutes from CNN and more than an hour from MSNBC:
Regarding the 13 court rulings since United States v. Windsor – all favoring marriage equality – FOX News has spent barely 10 minutes covering the rulings.
So much for “fair and balanced.”
More at Media Matters.
The Parliament of Slovakia voted today, 102 out of 150 lawmakers, to change it’s constitution banning same-sex marriage. Only 18 lawmakers voted against the measure.
Although a 2012 poll showed 47% of Slovaks support civil unions, there is no legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Slovakia. Gay couples are also not allowed to adopt.
In 1992, Czechoslovakia split into the two countries of Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic allows for civil unions and is considered to be one of the more gay friendly countries in Central Europe.
The US Supreme Court has just announced it will NOT put same-sex marriage in Oregon on hold.
From LGBTQ Nation:
The court issued an order Wednesday declining to block any new same-sex unions in the state while a federal appeals court considers whether an anti-gay marriage group can intervene in the case.
The order follows an emergency appeal by the National Organization for Marriage that seeks to overturn the May 19 ruling of U.S. District Judge Michael McShane. The group had unsuccessfully tried to intervene in the lower court proceeding after Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum declined to defend the same-sex ban.
Hundreds of same-sex Oregon couples have obtained marriage licenses since McShane’s order.
The full court considered the request from NOM, and it was denied without comment.
Take that, haters!
News site Vox shares this handy-dandy animated GIF of the progress of marriage equality through the years to now.
Using data from the Census Bureau, the GIF shows the growth state by state AND by population percentages of Americans who can now enjoy the freedom to marry.