Tag: marriage equality

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Hawaii: Not time for special legislative session for marriage equality

It’s looking like Hawaii still doesn’t have the votes to pass marriage equality in the state House:

State House Speaker Joseph Souki said today that Gov. Neil Abercrombie informed him that he was not ready to call a special session on gay marriage.

Souki would not say whether the House had the votes for a gay marriage bill after House Democrats met in private caucus to discuss a special session. The governor had been waiting for a House vote count before making his decision on a special session. The state Senate has the votes for a gay marriage bill.

When you have the votes, you call the vote. With all the support in the state legislature plus the Governor, you can trust there would be a special session if the votes were there.

UPDATE: According to the AP, Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Wednesday presented state lawmakers with a draft of legislation that would legalize gay marriage in Hawaii.

Abercrombie told reporters he would not rush a special session, or call one without lawmakers having a clear idea of what to do.

“I’m simply not going to consider a special session if it becomes something that gets dragged out and a recycling of previous history,” he said. “The bill’s there, we’re going to make ourselves available.”

He said his administration would let lawmakers digest the bill, and then discuss whether to have a special session.

According to an 18-page draft of the legislation released by Abercrombie’s office, Hawaii would begin issuing licenses Oct. 3, with ceremonies allowed to begin Nov. 1.

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New Mexico: 2004 same-sex marriage licenses declared valid by AG King

With all the same-sex marriage activity in New Mexico, the issue of marriage licenses that were briefly issued back in 2004 by the Sandoval County clerk have come back to the forefront, and there’s good news:

Attorney General Gary King says marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples in 2004 in Sandoval County remain valid.

King said Wednesday that licenses issued by a county clerk are “presumptively valid” unless voided by a court.

King delivered the non-binding advice in a letter to the current Sandoval County clerk, who found that some of the 2004 licenses recorded in the clerk’s office were labeled as void or invalid.

King said a county clerk is responsible for issuing marriage licenses but “New Mexico law plainly does not provide county clerks with the rights to invalidate marriages.”

Former Sandoval County Victoria Dunlap issued more than 60 licenses on Feb. 20, 2004, but stopped later the same day after then Attorney General Patricia Madrid objected.

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Pennsylvania: Corbett administration fights same-sex couples joining marriage equality lawsuit; compares couples to 12-year-olds

In a brief filed by the Corbett administration Wednesday, state attorneys said marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples were never valid, and compared gay and lesbian couples to “12-year-olds” who are also barred from marrying under state law.

The state Department of Health and Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes will appear in Commonwealth Court next Wednesday to argue the case.

Since July 24, Hanes has issued 154 marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

Thirty-two of the couples have petitioned to intervene in the case, arguing that a ruling against Hanes could also invalidate their marriages.

The state filed a brief Wednesday opposing the couples’ participation, saying the marriage licenses hold no “actual value or legitimacy” and thus have no right to be defended in court. “Had the clerk issued marriage licenses to 12-year-olds in violation of state law, would anyone seriously contend that each 12-year-old … is entitled to a hearing on the validity of his ‘license’?” the state wrote.

If the couples wish to defend their “purported marriage licenses,” the state wrote, they should file their own lawsuit or wait for the outcome of a federal challenge to Pennsylvania’s marriage law.

(source)

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Sixth county in New Mexico to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples

And now a sixth county in New Mexico will begin offering marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

From Think Progress:

Late Tuesday afternoon, a court order from the Eighth Judicial District Court added Taos County to the list as well, and County Clerk Anna Martinez will begin offering them Wednesday morning.

Combined with Santa Fe, Bernalillo, and Doña Ana Counties, this brings the total to six New Mexico counties now offering marriage equality. Together, those six counties are home to 1,172,581 of the state’s population, or 56.2 percent. More counties could soon follow along the momentum.

The state Attorney General has stated he will not challenge the clerks or marriage licenses issued, and the Governor has been silent on the topic.

A group of Republican state lawmakers have filed suit to stop the licenses from issued saying the clerks have broken or changed the law. However, nothing in New Mexico law bans same-sex marriage or stipulates that marriage must be between a man and a woman.

So – there.

Forward.

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New Mexico: Two more counties to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples

Ya-hoo!  My kind of news! Up to five counties in New Mexico now issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

From Equality On Trial:

San Miguel County in New Mexico joins Valencia County as the latest in the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. San Miguel County Clerk Melanie Rivera has confirmed that she will issue new gender neutral marriage licenses later this week, though couples who don’t want to wait can receive a license today:

Rivera also stated that couples who did not wish to wait could apply and receive a license today. Until the new licenses arrive Rivera will make the changes to the old forms by hand.

Valencia County Clerk Peggy Carabajal has also discussed the change:

Valencia County Clerk Peggy Carabajal said she should have gender-neutral licenses ready by Wednesday. She also said she is willing to alter licenses if people want to get married Tuesday.

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Marriage News Watch – August 26, 2013

From AFER: This week’s all about New Mexico, where we’ve got surprise weddings, new lawsuits, old lawsuits, and emergency orders. Meanwhile there’s a hearing coming up to determine whether those Pennsylvania weddings actually counted, new organizing in Tennessee and Arkansas and Indiana, and a special session in Hawaii.

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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis chat on performing “Same Love” at VMAs tonight

Openly gay NBA player Jason Collins will be introducing Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at tonight’s MTV VMAs. The duo is set to perform their marriage equality anthem “Same Love”.

Macklemore told MTV News why they chose to perform “Same Love” over their other massive hits “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us”:

“‘Same Love’ has turned into a song that has been embraced by the mainstream and that was played by the radio,” Macklemore told MTV News on Saturday (August 24) after the duo’s rehearsal for the big show. “There is a lot more people that are familiar with it now than six months ago and the timing is perfect. It’s a powerful record and it needs to be heard in America right now. And equality is at the forefront of what’s going on in politics right now.”

Macklemore adds that “It’s a song that I wanted to write because I felt like it wasn’t being addressed within hip-hop music…And I think that the homophobia was still very rampant within hip-hop culture.”

He also said that the line “when I was in the third grade, I thought that I was gay” is the most vulnerable lyric he has ever written.

(source)

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Dictionaries changing the definition of “marriage” as marriage equality becomes more widespread

From The Australian: The definition of marriage is being changed in dictionaries after new measures allowing same-sex couples to marry became law in Britain last month.

The online versions of the Collins, Macmillan and Oxford English dictionaries acknowledge that marriage is no longer limited to a man and a woman. The next paper editions published will do the same.

Collins amended its definition from the legal union or contract “made by a man and a woman to live as husband and wife” to one “made by two people to live together”. Macmillan’s definition of marriage as a “relationship between two people who are husband or wife” now includes the addendum “or a similar relationship between people of the same sex”.

Oxford added “the relation between persons married to each other” to its definition “the condition of being a husband or wife” with the note that “the term is now sometimes used with reference to long-term relationships between partners of the same sex”.

(tipped by TRR reader Rayme)

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New Mexico Republicans move to stop issuance of same-sex marriage licenses

It did seem like they were pretty silent on the sidelines so far. Now the GOP steps in.

Via the Sante Fe New Mexican:

Republican Sen. William Sharer of Farmington said a lawsuit will be filed, potentially by the end of the week, seeking a court order to stop County Clerk Lynn Ellins.

“It has to do with a county clerk cannot make law. That is the Legislature’s job,” said Sharer, who sponsored a constitutional amendment in 2011 to define marriage as between a man and woman.  He said more than two dozen GOP lawmakers have agreed to join the lawsuit. It likely will be filed with the state Supreme Court, but Sharer said lawyers were trying to decide the best legal strategy.

New Mexico’s laws do not explicitly allow or prohibit marriage for same-sex couples.

To date, Dona Ana County has issued 91 licenses to same-sex couples, many of whom traveled from other counties across the state and Texas.

Gay marriage is an interesting political issue for the state. New Mexico leans left politically, but there are many moderate to conservative Democrats in the rural parts of the state. According to recent polling, New Mexico supports marriage equality 46-43.

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New Mexico: District judge orders Santa Fe County clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples

Judge Sarah Singleton

A New Mexico district judge is ordering the Santa Fe County clerk to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Rep. Brian Egolf, a lawyer handling a lawsuit by two Santa Fe men, said Friday that Judge Sarah Singleton’s order represents the first time a New Mexico judge has ruled that gay and lesbian couples can be married.

The order issued late Thursday mandates that Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar issue the marriage licenses or appear in court to tell the judge why that shouldn’t happen.

Around 90 same-sex couples have received marriage licenses in southern New Mexico this week since the Dona Ana County clerk decided on his own to grant them.

New Mexico state law and constitution does not currently directly address the issue of same-sex marriage in any way.

(via LGBTQ Nation)