Tag: marriage equality

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New poll: Record high 59% of Americans support marriage equality

According to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, a record high of 59% of Americans support marriage equality:

Half of all Americans believe that gay men and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll in which a large majority also said businesses should not be able to deny serving gays for religious reasons.

Fifty percent say the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection gives gays the right to marry, while 41 percent say it does not.

Beyond the constitutional questions, a record-high 59 percent say they support same-sex marriage, while 34 percent are opposed, the widest margin tracked in Post-ABC polling.

Bolding is mine.

In addition, 65 percent of Americans across the country think businesses should not be able to refuse service to gay people even if it violates their religious beliefs.

Check out the graphic below for more results from the poll.

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Kentucky will NOT appeal ruling on same-sex marriage

The AP is reporting that Kentucky’s Attorney General has issued a statement saying the state will NOT appeal the recent ruling saying the state must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states:

Attorney General Jack Conway’s decision means same-sex couples in Kentucky who were married in other states will be allowed to pursue name changes, file joint tax returns with the state, and seek to have names added to birth certificates.

The Democrat said at a news conference that if he appealed, “I would be defending discrimination. That I will not do.”

Happy Dance Time!

UPDATE: Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear announced he’ll hire other counsel to represent the state in the case, known as Bourke vs. Beshear, in regard to appealing the district court decision against the marriage ban the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“General Conway has advised me that he will no longer represent the Commonwealth in Bourke vs. Beshear,” Beshear said. “The State will hire other counsel to represent it in this case, and will appeal Judge Heyburn’s decision to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and ask the court to enter a stay pending appeal.”

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Pennsylvania: Support for marriage equality climbs to 57%

Support for marriage equality grows to 57% in Pennsylvania

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday, Pennsylvania voters support a law that would allow same-sex marriage by 57-37 percent.

This represents a three percentage point increase from a Franklin & Marshall poll in October 2013.

Democrats favored the proposal 74-22 percent while Republicans opposed marriage equality 59-36 percent. The majority of independents, 58 percent, also supported the change.

Gender also played a role in determining attitudes towards legalizing gay marriage, with more Pennsylvania women supporting it than men — 60 and 53 percent respectively.

(via Huffington Post)

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Michigan: Defense begins badly for state defending anti-gay marriage ban

Michigan is currently in court defending the state’s anti-marriage equality ban passed in 2004.

Unfortunately, the Attorney General’s office is already knocked off balance as the first “expert” witness has been deemed “not” an expert by the judge.

“He’s very eloquent … but right now, all he is offering to us is mainly his opinions,” U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said of the witness. “The court does not believe … that he should be allowed to testify.”

Via LGBTQ Nation:

The state of Michigan’s defense of a ban on same-sex marriage is off to a rocky start after a judge refused to allow the first witness to testify.

Sherif Girgis is a law student at Yale University and a doctoral candidate at Princeton University. He has written and talked about a historical defense of marriage between a man and a woman.

Federal Judge Bernard Friedman says Girgis will be an expert witness – someday. Friedman says Girgis’ opinions won’t help him decide this case.

The Michigan AG has requested time to find another “expert witness.”

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Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages performed outside the state

For the time being, same-sex marriages performed outside of Kentucky must now be recognized in that state.

U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn today made final a ruling issued earlier this month in which he found that Kentucky’s marriage amendment and statutes violate the right to equal protection under the law.

“Those laws … are void and unenforceable,” he said in a one page order.

Earlier today, Attorney General Jack Conway’s office asked Heyburn to stay enforcement of his ruling, but Heyburn did not address that motion and for now his ruling goes into effect.

Kentucky’s Attorney General could decide to NOT appeal the decision. Conway’s motion asked for the delay to give that office time to decide whether to appeal the Feb. 12 ruling and would give the state an opportunity to prepare to implement the order.

Some are betting AG Conway may join the six other state AG’s in not defending or appealing such rulings.

(source)

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Kentucky seeks delay in recognizing same-sex marriage

While awaiting final orders from U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II on his ruling that Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages from out of state, the Attorney General has requested a 90 day delay:

The two-page filing Thursday morning says the delay is sought to give the attorney general time to decide whether to appeal the Feb. 12 ruling and would give the state an opportunity to prepare to implement the order.

The request came as parties in the case were awaiting a final order from U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II overturning part of Kentucky’s same-sex marriage ban.

Earlier this month, Heyburn concluded that the ban, which has been in place since 2004, treated “gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them.”

Heyburn had indicated earlier that his final orders would not include a stay on the ruling.

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Brian Brown of NOM has lost his balance in Texas

“We’ve seen a rash of these rulings in recent weeks, all making the same errors about binding Supreme Court precedents relevant to marriage and all issued by activist judges bound and determined to redefine marriage in defiance of thousands of years of human experience,” said Brian Brown, NOM President.

“These egregious decisions by unelected judges throwing out the votes of millions of Americans have been shamefully encouraged, aided, and abetted by the lawless actions of President Obama and his administration, especially the Attorney General.

“It simply has to stop. Critical issues like marriage that are foundational to civilization cannot be permitted to be taken over by activist judges and out of control political appointees. The voices and values of ordinary citizens are being trampled by judges determined to impose profound social change that affects citizens in the deepest and most fundamental ways.

“The American people, and our leaders in Congress, need to step up and restore the powers of government to their proper balance.” – hate group leader Brian Brown writing on the NOM blog through tears of impending unemployment