Tag: Montana

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Kansas, Montana and South Carolina Still Behind The Curve

Evan Wolfson of Freedom To Marry tweeted that yesterday noting that only Kansas, Montana and South Carolina have not moved to honor the recent rulings in three federal appellate courts concerning the freedom to marry:

• Kansas has a court date this Friday, October 24th, in Kansas City at 10AM where LGBT activists will request a temporary injunction that would bring Kansas in line with the rest of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

• Montana gets a hearing on November 20th in Great Falls where the ACLU has requested a summary judgement on the issue of same-sex marriage in light of the recent ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Montana.

• South Carolina is moving at a slower pace with written briefs due by October 23rd in a lawsuit filed which would bring the state in line with the ruling from the 4th Circuit Court. Both sides will then have 14 days to reply to briefs, and then a hearing will be scheduled within 21 days after that.

Additionally, Arkansas will also address same-sex marriage on November 20th when Federal Judge Kristine Baker will hear plaintiffs asking for a summary judgement for marriage equality while the state has filed a motion to dismiss the case altogether.

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Montana Judge Asked To Rule On Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Montana’s same-sex marriage ban has been challenged by four couples with the request that the judge rule without going to court:

ACLU Montana legal director Jim Taylor says the 9th Circuit’s recent decision to strike down similar bans elsewhere in the West should convince U.S. District Judge Brian Morris to rule in their favor.

Montana is part of the 9th Circuit and district judges use decisions from the appellate court as precedents for their rulings.

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Montana: Billings Mayor cast deciding vote against non-discrimination protections for LGBT community

Just after 3am last night, Mayor Tom Hanel said he didn’t think Billings, Montana, was ready for a nondiscrimination ordinance regarding equal treatment under the law for the LGBT community. 

Hanel cast the deciding vote against the NDO.

From the Billings Gazette:

Hanel said he applied a standard from Rotary International to help him reach his decision: “I needed to ask myself, is this fair to everyone, beneficial to everyone? Will it build goodwill and friendships? I can’t say for sure,” he said of the NDO.

The vote was 6-5, with council members Shaun Brown, Rich McFadden, Denis Pitman, Angela Cimmino and Mike Yakwich joining Hanel against the ordinance, which would have amended city code to protect people from being discriminated against on the bases of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

So, just to be clear: if you are gay or lesbian and you find yourself in Billings, Montana, it is perfectly fine with the folks there for you to be denied a hotel room or be served in a restaurant.

You can be turned down trying to rent an apartment.

 All good because in the mayor’s eyes, that wouldn’t be “fair to everyone, beneficial to everyone.”

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Montana: House votes to repeal sodomy law

From Think Progress: “Just now, the Montana House held its third and final vote on SB 107, a bill to repeal the state’s unconstitutional sodomy law.

“The final vote was 64-36, meaning there were still 36 lawmakers who believes that gay sex should remain criminal under law.”

The Montana Senate voted to repeal the ban in January by a vote of 41-9.  Barring a veto from the governor, the law should soon be history.

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Montana: House votes to decriminalize homosexuality

The Montana House decisively voted Tuesday to repeal Montana’s law making gay sex a crime, putting the bill one step away from the governor’s desk.

After a half-hour of emotional debate for and against the measure, the House voted 64-36 to endorse Senate Bill 107. Twenty-five Republicans joined all 39 House Democrats to support the bill.

The bill removes gay sex from the definition of the crime of “deviate sexual relations,” a felony that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $50,000.

LGBT advocates in the state have worked for over 20 years to address the law that grouped gay sex in with “sexual intercourse with an animal” as criminal deviate sexual conduct.

The bill faces one more vote in the House before heading to the Governor’s desk.

(via http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/montana-house-endorses-measure-to-decriminalize-gay-sex/article_79b4d3e9-c54a-5cc5-86cd-695dcf6d5750.html#ixzz2Q4nTIBKi)

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Montana: Sen. Jon Tester endorses marriage equality

Montana Sen. Jon Tester on Tuesday endorsed same-sex marriage, joining the party’s new public consensus on the issue.

I’ve admired the manner and directness that Sen. Tester has represented his state for a long time.  I’ve feel he is a true representative of the independent spirit of his home state.

Sen. Tester joins Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Mark Warner of Virginia in endorsing same-sex nuptials, and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia who on Monday pushed the courts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

“Montanans believe in the right to make a good life for their families,” Tester wrote on Facebook. “How they define a family should be their business and their business alone. I’m proud to support marriage equality because no one should be able to tell a Montanan or any American who they can love and who they can marry.”

Like McCaskill, Tester just won reelection easily, and won’t face voters until 2018.

Congratulations, Montana.  You have a Senator to be proud of.

(via Politico)

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Montana Sen. Max Baucus praises state Dems for marriage equality platform

Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana praised his state’s Democrats for including marriage equality in their official platform this week.

According to activist and blogger D Gregory Smith, Baucus is the first elected statewide Montana official to endorse marriage equality.

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Montana GOP lawmaker defends drunk driving

Montana GOP Rep. and bar owner Alan Hale stands up to denounce DUI laws. All of them.

Said Hale: “These DUI laws are not doing our small businesses in our state any good at all. They are destroying them. They are destroying a way of life that has been in Montana for years and years. These taverns and bars in these smaller communities connect people together. They are the center of the communities. I’ll guarantee you there’s only two ways to get there: either you hitchhike, or you drive, and I promise you they’re not going to hitchhike.”

Just in case you weren’t absolutely sure that GOP lawmakers were about clearing the way for their wealthy friends (and themselves) to make money, even at the risk of people being hurt, injured or killed, well, there you go…

And I’m not EVEN going to comment on what he’s wearing.

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Montana State committee approves anti-LGBT bill

HB 516 was passed out of committee by a vote of 13-7. This bill, now on it’s way to the state House legislature, will remove all local ordinances passed by cities and towns in Montana that would protect LGBT citizens. The city of Missoula had passed protections for LGBT community members and this seemed to rile the conservative members of state legislature. The Montana Human Rights Act does not cover LGBT citizens. That is exactly why the City of Missoula passed its Anti-Discrimination Ordinance in April of 2010. Missoula is the home of the University of Montana. The panel also voted to table HB 514, a bill that would have expanded the Montana Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression and sexual orientation.

From the Montana Human Rights Network: This will repeal not only the Missoula ordinance – but existing policies and resolutions that other cities have passed to protect their residents. People from across the state came to speak out in opposition (Helena, Cardwell, Butte, Billings, Great Falls, Bozeman, Missoula, Sidney and Opportunity, MT all came to the Capitol on Friday to stand in opposition to HB 516) – and their testimony was not only limited to ten minutes total, but cut off.

Sad day for equal rights in Montana.