Tag: marriage equality

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Kentucky: Judge Orders State To Pay Over $222K To Marriage Equality Attorneys

County Clerk Kim Davis

For a second time, a federal judge has ordered the state of Kentucky to pay over $222K to the attorneys who went to bat defending same-sex couples who were declined a marriage license by county clerk Kim Davis.

From CourtHouseNews.com:

In July, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Kentucky to pay $222,695 to the attorneys of April Miller and others, after they won a favorable judgment against Davis. Bunning also awarded an additional $2,008 in other costs.

Gov. Matt Bevin and Terry Manuel, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for the Libraries and Archives, appealed the ruling, claiming the fees should be assessed against Davis and the Rowan County Clerk’s Office.

The governor and commissioner, who were third-party defendants in the case, argued that Davis did not represent Kentucky when she acted against the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges because her behavior was not directed or approved by any state official.

Bunning once again found the argument unpersuasive and rejected the appeal on Monday.

“The Commonwealth of Kentucky is liable for plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and costs because defendant Kim Davis acted on behalf of the Commonwealth when she refused to issue marriage licenses,” the judge wrote in his 14-page decision.

Congratulations, Kentucky! Kim Davis cost you over $222K in her misguided and illegal activism.

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New Zealand TV Host Trolls Australia’s “No” Vote Campaign

Jesse Mulligan, host of New Zealand’s The Project, has some bitingly satirical “advice” for Australia as the deadline for the current “vote by mail” survey on same-sex marriage grows near.

#GoKiwis

#VoteYes

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Australia: New Poll Shows Strong Support For Marriage Equality

According to a new poll of nearly 5,000 Australians, it’s looking good for the “Yes” vote for marriage equality down under.

Via SkyNews:

An exclusive Sky News ReachTel poll has revealed the ‘yes’ vote is on track to win the government’s postal survey.

The poll of nearly five thousand people found more than 64 per cent of those surveyed have sent back their ballot and voted ‘yes’.

A further six per cent still plan to vote ‘yes’ and 15.5 per cent have already voted ‘no’.

According to the figures, 79 per cent of Australians have already completed and posted their response.

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Marriage Equality Comes To Germany

Marriage ceremonies between same-sex couples began today in Germany after a June vote of 393-226 in Parliament legalized same-sex marriage.

German’s had allowed civil unions since 2001, but the change in marriage laws now gives same-sex couples full and equal rights as Germany becomes the 15th European country to embrace marriage equality.

From the New York Times:

Cheers rang out in the City Hall of Berlin’s Schöneberg district on Sunday as two men, who met 38 years ago, when the German capital was a divided city, became the country’s first same-sex couple to legally marry.

The couple, Bodo Mende, 60, and Karl Kreile, 59, were wed in a civil ceremony, surrounded by a crush of photographers and television cameras eager to capture the historic moment.

“This is an emotional moment with great symbolism,” Mr. Kreile told reporters before the event. “The transition to the term ‘marriage’ shows that the German state recognizes us as real equals.”

Across the country, city halls that are normally closed on the weekend opened their doors to allow marriages on the first day the law took effect. Dozens of couples were expected to exchange vows in Berlin, as well as in Cologne, Hamburg, Hanover and Kiel on Sunday and the days beyond.

Among those exchanging vows on Sunday was Volker Beck, a member of the Greens party and a former lawmaker who fought for decades for marriage equality.

Months after he was showered with confetti on the floor of Parliament as the law passed, he celebrated his marriage to Adrian Petkov under shiny gold balloons spelling out “Love.”

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News Round-Up: September 11, 2017

(image via Pinterest)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Welcome to a brand new fresh week! Today is just about as fresh and ready for you as, well, this guy (above).

• Former 90210 star Brian Austin Green’s 4-year-old son Noah has been seen out in public occasionally wearing dresses, and Green has no problem with that. “I feel like at 4, at 5, that’s a time when he should be having fun,” the actor continues. “He’s not harming anyone wearing a dress. So if he wants to wear a dress, awesome. Good on him, you know?”

• In just the past week, 3 GOP Congressmen have announced they will not be seeking reelection in 2018. This potentially opens up more possibilities for the Democrats to regain control of the House. Cook Political Report analyst Dave Wasserman moved his rating of one of the races from “likely Republican” to “toss up.”

• InfoWars idiot Alex Jones says Donald Trump behaves erratically because White House insiders are slowly drugging his Diet Cokes. #NoLie

 • A transgender man in New Jersey, who was wrongly accused on shoplifting, is bringing legal action after being forced to show his vagina and prosthetic penis to a female grocery store employee. A security guard apparently mistook the bulge in the man’s pants for stolen goods.

• One of the new characters being written into the upcoming 8 episode reboot of Roseanne will be the 4-year-old “gender-creative” son of “Darlene” played by Sara Gilbert. The young son’s name will be “Mark” who is described as “Sensitive and bright, Mark occasionally likes to wear girls’ clothing.”

• Folks are a little worried “down under” as recent polling shows 58.4% say they would back a “yes” vote on marriage equality, down 6 points from two weeks earlier; support for a “no” vote rose two points to 31.4%. In a world of Brexit votes and Donald Trumps becoming president, folks don’t want to take anything for granted. Make sure your Aussie friends vote!

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Australia: High Court Rules Same-Sex Marriage Survey Will Proceed

Australia’s highest court has ruled that the upcoming “postal survey” of Aussies asking whether same-sex marriage should be legalized will go on as planned.

From the New York Times:

The Australian government’s highly contentious proposal to put the question of same-sex marriage to a nationwide postal vote is legal and may proceed, the country’s High Court ruled unanimously on Thursday, eliminating the last hurdle before ballots are to be mailed out next week.

The survey — which is voluntary, unlike in-person elections in Australia — was challenged in two separate cases brought by advocates of same-sex marriage and members of Parliament. Run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the vote will be unique in Australian history: Nothing in the law requires it to take place before Parliament may act, and lawmakers are not bound by its results.

The ruling brings a little relief to the conservative government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The decision to conduct the survey has been deeply unpopular on both sides of the issue, birthing a national debate that has been, at times, tumultuous. Advocates of same-sex marriage have pushed for Parliament to vote on the issue directly. The postal vote will cost 122 million Australian dollars, or around $97 million.

Polls show overwhelming support for marriage equality ‘down under.’

Supporters of same-sex marriage say Parliament could vote to pass the measure without spending $122 million on the upcoming postal survey – which is non-binding on Parliament.

LGBTQ activists are urging everyone to make sure and vote.

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News Round-Up: August 31, 2017

Andres Camilo (L) and Max Emerson (R)

Some news items you may have missed:

• Max Emerson and his boyfriend Andres Camilo have posed for a sexy, sultry photo shoot by Daniel Jaems for the Obsession series (above). More at Attitude.

• There are more out college football players today than ever before.

• Those “regular moms” in the recent hideous anti-same-sex marriage ad in Australia turn out to be liars, crackpots and “ex-gay” therapy advocates. #NoSurprise

• The Trump administration has ordered three Russian diplomatic facilities in the U.S. closed (NYC, SF, DC) “in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians” after Russia demanded the U.S. reduce our presence in their country by hundreds of personnel.

• “Dreamers” are uneasy as President Donald Trump weighs whether to pull the plug on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program), a program that protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

• Check out the fun, new music video for Youngr’s acclaimed single “Monsters.” The artist describes the track as “a song for all the day dreamers and doodlers. I wrote this about my childhood at school. I used to draw my maths teacher as a monster whilst counting down the seconds until I could run home and play my drum kit! So if anyone out there is fed up with school or work, put this track on and turn it up.”

Watch below.

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Hate Group Airs Attack Ad Against Aussie Marriage Equality Claiming Boys Will Be Forced To Wear Dresses

In Australia, the ironically named “Coalition for Marriage” – the group actually OPPOSES marriage for same-sex couples – has released and aired the first ad in the ‘No’ campaign against legalizing same-sex marriage.

Using often-told lies to inflame opposition, the actors in the :30 clip look intensely concerned as they spout lines like, “School told my son he could wear a dress next year if he felt like it” and “When same-sex marriage passes as law overseas, this type of program becomes widespread and compulsory.”

Of course, no one “compels” a young boy to wear a dress to school when marriage equality becomes the law of the land.

And the upcoming mail-in survey (costing the country over $122 million) is about marriage equality, not about what will be taught in schools.

But folks were warned that this kind of hostile and offensive rhetoric would be teed up by the haters as Australia prepares to vote via mail on whether the country should embrace same-sex marriage.

Recent polls show majority support (57%) for allowing gays and lesbians to marry, but who knows what the haters have lined up next?

You can watch the fearmongering below.

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Australia: Surge In Young Voters Bodes Well For Same-Sex Marriage Vote

A late surge in newly enrolled Aussies could prove problematic for the Coalition MPs, not only for the marriage equality mail-in vote, but for future elections. The nearly 90,000 new voters are primarily younger, and we know the younger generations overwhelmingly support same-sex marriage.

Via the Sydney Morning Herald:

A last-minute surge has seen a record number of Australians enrolled to vote ahead of the upcoming postal survey on same-sex marriage. The Australian Electoral Commission on Friday released figures it described as “extraordinary” that show 90,000 new voters – mostly the young – had joined the roll since the survey was announced on August 8.

The development delighted same-sex marriage advocates but alarmed nervous Coalition MPs, who believe the enlarged youth vote will come back to bite them at the next election. A further 675,000 people had updated their electoral details, and 165,000 transactions were yet to be processed as of Thursday night, the AEC said. In total, almost 1 million Australians had either enrolled for the first time or updated their details.

Same-sex marriage advocates were elated at the news on Friday, following a two-week recruitment drive to ensure young, progressive Australians were correctly enrolled to vote. While the massive rise in new voters has buoyed the “yes” campaign, it has disturbed some Liberals who fear the government has shot itself in the foot by fostering a process that has encouraged young, progressive voters to enrol.

Australian government officials have been criticized for holding the vote-by-mail on gay rights. Not only is the survey expensive (over $122 million) but it’s non-binding. The MPs in government could have just voted on the issue and moved on.

Current polls show upwards of 72% of Australians support marriage equality.

You’ll get a good laugh from the satire video below on the plebiscite (vote) below.

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Chris Hemsworth Makes The Case For Aussie Marriage Equality

Chris Hemsworth

We already know there are lots of reasons to love Avengers star, Chris Hemsworth.

Movie star, super-hero, super-easy on the eyes…

But as a vote looms on the horizon for Australians to cast a vote via mail on whether or not to legalize same-sex marriage (skipping the part that it’s icky from the get-go to vote on folks’ rights), Hemsworth took to his Instagram to urge fellow Aussies to vote for marriage equality.

#swoon

Dear open minded, free speaking, laid back, life loving Aussies. Marriage is about love and commitment and, in a country based on equal citizenship, it should be available to everyone! Vote now for marriage equality ✌️#equality