Tag: marriage equality

Posted on

California Supreme Court says ‘no’ AGAIN to stopping same-sex marriage

You might think there’s going to be some “tone” the next time someone challenges marriage equality at the state supreme court level in California. The state justices seem to have had enough of the dumb questions.

For the second time this month, the CA Supreme Court said “no” to stopping marriage licenses from being issued to same-sex couples.

From SCOTUSblog:

For the second time in the past eight days, the California Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to order county clerks across the state to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In a brief order, without a noted dissent, the state court turned down a plea by the clerk of San Diego County to halt all such licensing until the legal status of the “Proposition 8″ ban is further clarified.

The state court is still considering two pleas to keep “Proposition 8″ intact throughout most if not all of California, on the theory that it remains binding in the state despite a federal judge’s 2010 decision striking it down in the case of two same-sex couples. One of those challenges is by the sponsors of the ballot measure, the other by the San Diego County clerk. State officials and the clerks of 20 other California counties are resisting those requests.

Just to be clear, folks – the good guys won. Equality is the law.  Now sit down or go to your corner and sulk, but STOP MAKING ASSES OF YOURSELVES.

You lost.

Forward.

California Supreme Court denies attempt by anti-gay haters to stop marriage licenses from being issued
Posted on

New Mexico Attorney General will not defend state in marriage equality lawsuit

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King yesterday told the state Supreme Court that he will not defend the state against a lawsuit calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage saying the current prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

In written arguments filed with the court, King said the justices should invalidate the state’s ban on gay marriage if they agree to resolve the issue in a lawsuit filed by two Santa Fe men who were denied a marriage license.

King, a Democrat who plans to run for governor next year against Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, said New Mexico law effectively doesn’t allow gay marriages although there’s no statutory provision that specifically prohibits, or authorizes, gay couples to be married. “New Mexico’s guarantee of equal protection to its citizens demands that same-sex couples be permitted to enjoy the benefits of marriage in the same way and to the same extent as other New Mexico citizens,” King said in the filing.

The state Supreme Court had asked King to respond to the lawsuit, but in yesterday’s response, King also said the couple’s case should be rejected because it had improperly bypassed lower courts and would set a precedent for direct actions to the high court.

Earlier this month the ACLU and the National Center for Lesbian Rights also filed a lawsuit on behalf of six gay couples asking the state Supreme Court to clarify whether same-sex couples can marry in New Mexico.

Posted on

Ireland: Survey shows strong support for marriage equality

Right on the heels of England and Wales passing same-sex marriage, a new survey shows that a strong majority of Fine Gael members in Ireland’s Lower House, the Dail Eireann, support marriage equality. The Irish Examiner reports:

An overwhelming majority of Fine Gael backbenchers support a referendum extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, a new survey reveals.

The findings blow apart the widely held view that the backbenchers act as a conservative anchor on social reform within the Coalition, and will increase pressure on Taoiseach Enda Kenny to finally state where he stands on the issue.

With 43 of the 50 non-ministerial Fine Gael TDs responding, 79% back holding a referendum on gay marriage, with 19% opposed, according to the Newstalk Breakfast survey.

Factor in that fact that the recent constitutional convention strongly supported marriage equality and that 75% now support marriage equality, next year’s vote looks very good for the LGBT community.

(via Irish Examiner)

Posted on

Ohio: Gay couple seeks to have state recognize their marriage

Two men who traveled from Cincinnati to Maryland last week to marry, John Arthur and Jim Obergefell,  are now asking Ohio to recognize their marriage based on equal protection:

The suit, filed by the couple, states the way the law treats marriages between opposite-sex couples is unfairly different from the way it treats marriages between same-sex couples.

“It’s blatant discrimination,” said the couple’s attorney Al Gerhardstein. “It’s a denial of equal protection.”

The suit points to an example of a marriage between first cousins. In Ohio, it is illegal. But if first cousins go to another state and marry where it is legal, Ohio will recognize their out of state marriage as valid.

“Equal protection demands that opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples should be treated the same,” Gerhardstein said in a release. “John and James were validly married in Maryland. If they were an opposite sex couple, Ohio would recognize their marriage. Being a same-sex couple is no longer a good enough reason to deny them equal rights.”

Gerhardstein says the suit filed Friday has importance beyond the law. The couple is running out of time.

Two years ago, Arthur was diagnosed with ALS, also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. There is no known cure or treatment today that halts or reverses ALS.

Posted on

OutFest Los Angeles – “Bridegroom” takes the Audience Award for documentary

“Bridegroom,” directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (creator of the TV series “Designing Women”), took the audience award for documentary feature at the LA LGBT film festival, OutFest Los Angeles. It previously won the audience award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The film, based on a YouTube video that went viral, examines the subject of marriage equality through the tragic story of a young gay couple that never got to marry before one of them, Tom Bridegroom, died in 2011 after falling off the roof of an apartment building while taking pictures.

After his death, Bridegroom’s partner, Shane Bitney Crone, found that he had no rights when it came to dealing with the aftermath of Bridegroom’s death. A year later he posted a 10-minute video called “It Could Happen to You,” which eventually attracted 3.4-million views.

Here’s the trailer for the film:

(source)

Posted on

Jesse Tyler Ferguson gets married to longtime bf

Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson got married in NYC  yesterday.  Congratulations to the happy couple!

According to US Weekly:

“Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita tied the knot yesterday in downtown New York City,” the rep said. “Tony Kushner officiated the ceremony.”

The pair, feted by over 200 guests, including Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, Julie Bowen, Ty Burell, Jerry O’ Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Zachary Quinto, Isaac Mizrahi and husband, Arnold Germer, Nigel Barker, Cat Deely, Mary Murphy, Tyce Diorio, and Eric Stonestreet, celebrated their nuptials at the 82 Mercer space and the afterparty at the Crosby Street Hotel, which was organized by planner, Bryan Rafanelli.

Later that night, Ferguson sent out one last tweet on his wedding day:

Posted on

Marriage equality: Queen ascents, Governor vetoes

Queen Elizabeth on Governor Chris Christie's veto of marriage equality

“Look, I know he has to appeal to the crazy right wingers in his party.  But the fact is, he’s not as forward-thinking as an eighty-seven year-old lady who wears a crown on her head.  It’s pathetic.”
– Queen Elizabeth, as told to Andy Borowitz on Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey vetoing marriage equality

(graphic by Memeographs)

Posted on

House Republicans cave in on defending same-sex marriage discrimination

 

Speaker John Boehner and the House Republican leadership have announced they will no longer defend anti-marriage statutes in court.

“[T]he House has determined, in light of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Windsor, that it no longer will defend that statute,” lawyers for the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), controlled by House Republicans, wrote about veterans’ benefits statutes that similarly ban recognition of same-sex couples’ marriages.

“The document from the legal team speaks for itself,” House Speaker John Boehner’s spokesman, Michael Steel, told BuzzFeed, when asked for comment on the move.

The plaintiffs in the case, filed in Massachusetts by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and Chadbourne and Park, — led by Maj. Shannon McLaughlin, a judge advocate general in Massachusetts Army National Guard, and her wife, Casey — challenge two statutes in Title 38 of the U.S. Code regarding veterans’ benefits that define “spouse” as “a person of the opposite sex.”

The Human Rights Campaign has issued this statement: “After millions of taxpayer dollars wasted defending discrimination, it’s a historic sign of the times that the House leadership is dropping its pointless quest to maintain second-class status for lesbian and gay couples,” HRC president Chad Griffin said.

(via Buzzfeed)

Posted on

Backstreet Boys new video, “In A World Like This,” features marriage equality

Backstreet Boys premiered the video for their new single “In A World Like This” on Good Morning America today (July 18), and the visual deals with some surprising themes.

Mixed in with shots of the guys singing on a gorgeous Western vista are scenes of couples watching TV as three historic moments happen: the 1969 moon landing, 9/11 and the legalization of same-sex marriage.

“BSB wants to show our support for the LGBT community and we believe that two people of the same sex should have the right to get married,” A.J. McLean explained to GMA. “The concept of the video is based on the song, which tells a story of how love conquers all and ‘in a world like this’ that we live in, with all the craziness and negative energy that can go around, with real love you can overcome anything.”

Available July 30th.