Tag: marriage equality

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British Prime Minister David Cameron cheers marriage equality passage

“I am proud that we have made same-sex marriage happen. I am delighted that the love two people have for each other — and the commitment they want to make — can now be recognised as equal. I have backed this reform because I believe in commitment, responsibility and family. I don’t want to see people’s love divided by law.

“I also want to acknowledge those that worked to bring about this moment: the campaigners, groups such as Out4Marriage and Freedom to Marry, and the team in the Civil Service and Parliament who worked to deliver it.

“The UK is rated as the best place in Europe for LGBT equality — but we cannot be complacent. There are subjects we must continue to tackle: not least taking a zero-tolerance approach to homophobic bullying, and caring for elderly members of the LGBT community.

“Rest assured, this Government will work tirelessly to make sure this happens.” – British Prime Minister David Cameron, writing for the Standard.

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Good marriage equality news from Virginia

From a new poll by Quinnipiac:

Virginia voters support 50 – 43 percent allowing same-sex couples to marry in the state.

Support is 68 – 26 percent among Democrats and 52 – 39 percent among independent voters.

Republicans are opposed 68 – 26 percent.

Women back same-sex marriage 55 – 39 percent while men are opposed 49 – 43 percent.

White voters support it 51 – 43 percent while black voters are opposed 48 – 42 percent.

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$2 million marriage equality campaign launched in Illinois

Marriage equality advocates are moving forward with the launch of a new $2 million statewide campaign, the AP reports:

In a statement Tuesday, the group says it will place 15 field organizers throughout the state to engage supporters. They plan to target legislators who oppose a measure to lift Illinois’ ban on same-sex marriage.

The Illinois Senate passed the bill in February. It wasn’t called for a vote in the House because the bill’s sponsor said it didn’t have the votes to pass.

It’s possible the state legislators may address the issue again this fall.

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Marriage News Watch – July 15, 2013

From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

Well, that’s it – we won. It’s impossible to overstate how monumental it is that Prop 8 is gone. Couples are getting married in the most populous state in the country. And nearly one third of Americans live in states with the freedom to marry.

So now let’s take a look at what comes next.

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California: Supreme Court says “no” to request to block same-sex marriages

In a one-line order, the Supreme Court, without comment, denied a request to immediately block county clerks from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The court will now consider ProtectMarriage.com’s broader legal argument that Proposition 8 should remain in force in California, considered a longshot by most legal experts.

Proposition 8 backers last week asked the state Supreme Court to intervene, arguing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June did not end the legal battle over California’s 2008 voter-approved gay marriage ban.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court found the ballot measure’s sponsors did not have a legal right to defend the law in place of the governor and attorney general, both of whom consider it unconstitutional. As a result, the case reverted to a federal judge’s 2010 ruling striking down Proposition 8 because it violated the equal protection rights of same-sex couples.

(via Mercury News)

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Marriage equality bill passes through House of Lords, last major hurdle for same-sex marriage in Britain

Britain’s same-sex marriage bill has cleared its last major hurdle, passing through the House of Lords and prompting celebrations from campaigners outside Parliament.

Supporters of the bill in Parliament’s upper house wore pink carnations Monday as the Lords agreed to send it back to the House of Commons, where lawmakers will review government amendments before it becomes law.

That is expected to go without a hitch, as the House of Commons earlier passed the bill 390 to 148.

(via CBS News)

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Terminally-ill man and partner travel to Maryland airport to marry on tarmac

John Arthur and Jim Obergefell, together for 20 years, decided that they wanted to marry after the Supreme Court struck down DOMA, but Ohio bans gay marriage and travel is difficult. “Arthur is bedridden with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a progressive neurological disease that robs patients of their ability to walk, talk and eventually breathe,” Cincinnati.com reports, so conventional travel was out of the question.

Donations poured in that would cover the cost of a $12,700 private plane charter, Cincinnati.com adds:

Obergefell flew to Baltimore on Tuesday, obtained the marriage license and flew back a few hours later.

And then on Thursday Arthur and Obergefell boarded a Lear jet at Lunken Airport with a nurse, two pilots trained in emergency medicine, and Arthur’s aunt, Paulette Roberts, who’d been ordained to perform weddings with the hope that she’d someday get to do theirs.

They touched down in Baltimore at 10:39 a.m. The plane parked off the runway and the pilots stepped outside.

And then, in the cramped cabin of the jet, Obergefell seated next to Arthur’s stretcher, the couple turned to each other and held hands. Roberts sat behind them and began to speak.

(via Towleroad)

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San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera responds to attempt to reinstate Prop 8

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera

City Attorney for San Francisco Dennis Herrera responds to Protect Marriage’s sad, last ditch effort to keep loving couples from marrying in the state of California:

“This motion is a desperate obstruction tactic used in the vain hope of pursuing an unconstitutional agenda.

“The opponents of the freedom to marry have chosen to ignore the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and the well-settled California marriage case of Lockyer v. San Francisco, which they themselves celebrated at the time. Their motion has essentially no chance to succeed.

“The most basic concepts of American law tell us that a state court cannot and will not overrule the federal judiciary.

“The citizens of California are left wondering when these people will realize that, having lost the moral struggle years and years ago, they have now lost the legal struggle as well.

“Marriage equality is now the law in the State of California, and will remain so from this point onward.Together we will soon see the day when it is the law all across America.”

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California: Protect Marriage files petition for continued enforcement of Prop 8

The haters at Protect Marriage have filed a petition to continue enforcement of Prop 8 in California:

Moments ago, we filed a new petition in the California Supreme Court against all of California’s 58 county clerks, and state officials, seeking to restore the enforcement of Proposition 8, the state’s constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a man and a woman. The undeniable fact is, the man-woman definition of marriage, as passed by a majority the voters, is still a valid part of our state constitution.

Yet county clerks statewide are lawlessly defying that law by issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses. We are asking California’s Supreme Court to restore the rule of law and the public’s confidence in the integrity of the initiative process.

The action we filed today contends that at least 56 of the 58 county clerks must continue to follow Proposition 8 because they were not parties to the recent federal lawsuit against Prop 8, and that the state’s governor and attorney general have no legal authority to order local county clerks to disregard the state constitution.

Our petition also reminds the justices that our opponents, the attorneys for the plaintiffs who challenged Prop 8, have repeatedly admitted that the 56 county clerks not involved in their case “are not directly bound by the injunction” issued by a single San Francisco judge against Prop 8. In fact, “super-lawyer” David Boies told the courts that “the scope of the injunction is quite limited”, and at least the 56 county clerks would remain free to “refuse a marriage license to a same-sex couple…without violating the injunction.”

This will result in nothing. The kids at Protect Marriage are just out to cause further misery at this point.

You can read the whole petition from Protect Marriage by clicking here.