Tag: marriage equality

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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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Houston Mayor Annise Parker over criticism that she married long-time partner: “Get over it”

Houston Mayor Annise Parker recently took four days off to marry her longtime partner Kathy Hubbard in Palm Springs.

Typically, Texas Republicans went on the attack saying her marriage was politically motivated, KHOU reports.

GOP State Senator Dan Patrick, currently running in a tough primary for Lt. Governor, said this of Mayor Parker’s nuptials:

“I am not shocked that Mayor Parker decided to elope to California for a marriage that is unconstitutional in Texas. This is obviously part of a larger strategy of hers to turn Texas into California.”

Parker responded to the criticism: “Dan Patrick’s running a political campaign. And he wants to make the gay community a whipping boy in that political campaign. And he thought I was an appropriate target. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And I don’t think that’s unusual….

Critics questioned the timing of her wedding, observing it occurred only weeks after being sworn into office for her final term. Mayor Parker pointed out that the couple married on what they have always considered their anniversary – January 16th – the date when they privately committed themselves to each other.

Says Parker, “You don’t commit 23 years of your life to someone to make a political statement…I took four days off. I had to leave my home state and make a little wedge of time to marry the woman I love. They can get over it.”

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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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Brendon Ayanbadejo on racial and LGBT civil rights

Brendon Ayanbadejo

Brendon Ayanbadejo pens an essay for Think Progress in support for LGBT rights in a manner that few can own as he does.

Many who oppose marriage equality repudiate the idea that this is a “civil rights” argument.  As readers of The Randy Report know, I’ve often said that when civil rights are assigned through a civil license issued by a civil government, we have an issue of “civil rights.”

Read just a portion of Brendon’s excellent op-ed:

The relationship we see between McGill and Marie — a young, inter-racial couple in the video — is no different from the relationship between my parents. And my parents’ relationship is no different from the relationship between two LGBT individuals. This video captures these similarities.

I’m an advocate for LGBT individuals because I believe they face the same dilemma many interracial couples faced in the 1960s and before. Today, many LGBT couples are discriminated against for simply being who they are. Some are kicked out of their houses; some are forced to live in fear due to societal pressures.

That’s why a new music video, released today by six-piece chamber rock band Great Caesar, is so inspiring. It’s a moving, courageous video for the song “Don’t Ask Me Why,” that draws parallels between the fight for racial equality and today’s struggle for LGBT rights. I was proud to support the band when they were raising money to make the video and I am even more proud to see the outstanding finished product.

Read the entire essay by Brendon at Think Progress.

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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: