Tag: same-sex marriage

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Same-sex marriage begins in England! Celebrate!

Peter McGraith and David Cabreza

Same-sex marriage has begun in England and Wales! Happy Dance Time!

Via Sky News:

The law changed at midnight, with a number of gay couples vying to claim the title of being the first to be married in Britain by trying to time it perfectly so their vows are being said just seconds after the clock struck midnight.

Among the first couples set to take advantage of the legalisation are Peter McGraith and David Cabreza, who have been together for 17 years.

Speaking before his wedding, Mr McGraith said: “We are thrilled to be getting married. It is a mark of significant social progress in the UK that the legal distinction between gay and straight relationships has been removed. “Very few countries afford their gay and lesbian citizens equal marriage rights and we believe that this change in law will bring hope and strength to gay men and lesbians in Nigeria, Uganda, Russia, India and elsewhere, who lack basic equality and are being criminalised for their sexual orientation.”

David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement assembled this Storify for the momentous occasion:

[View the story “Look: First Same-Sex Couples To Marry In England And Wales!” on Storify]
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Puerto Rico: Lesbian couple files lawsuit for marriage recognition

A lesbian couple married in Massachusetts has filed suit in their native Puerto Rico asking the US territory to recognize their marriage.

Together for 14 years and married since 2004, Ada Conde Vidal and Ivonne Álvarez Velez are unable to have their relationship recognized in their home territory because the 1999 amendment to Puerto Rico’s civil code restricts marriage recognition to only those unions involving opposite-sex couples.

In the suit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico in San Juan, contends that the commonwealth’s policy violates the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and heavily cites last summer’s landmark Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality, U.S. v. Windsor.

In detailing the harm they’ve suffered through the territory’s lack of equal marriage rights, Conde recounts how, when her daughter had open-heart surgery, she was unable to designate her wife, Alvarez, to make even “simple decisions or determinations regarding her health. This also included simple decisions and/or determinations regarding her education.”

Ultimately, the suit contends that by denying the married same-sex couple the same rights afforded to other legally married couples, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico causes the plaintiffs “severe humiliation, emotional distress, pain, suffering, psychological harm and stigma.”

(via the Advocate)

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State Rep. Mike Colona introduces proposal to revisit same-sex marriage in Missouri

Missouri state Rep. Mike Colona

Missouri state Rep. Mike Colona has filed a proposal that would ask voters to revisit the state’s current ban on marriage equality.

Via Ozarks First:

Representative Mike Colona (D-St. Louis) has filed HJR 85, a proposed constitutional amendment that would ask voters to add language saying that a marriage may exist between a man and a woman and a same-sex couple.

71 percent of Missouri voters approved Constitutional Amendment 2 in 2004 that said to be valid and recognized in Missouri, “a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman.”

Colona, who is openly gay, says he’s not sure the proposal will clear the legislature but feels it’s time to address the issue while two different court cases are being considered on the subject of same-sex marriage.

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Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says same-sex marriages will not be recognized

Gov. Rick Snyder says Michigan won’t recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed last weekend.

The marriages were performed Saturday before a federal appeals court suspended a decision that overturned the state’s ban on gay marriage.

Snyder’s announcement Wednesday closes the door to certain benefits granted to Michigan married couples. The move comes a day after an appeals court indefinitely stopped any additional same-sex marriages.

Snyder says the marriages were legal at the time but the stay means the ban now is back in effect.

The court is reviewing a decision by Detroit federal Judge Bernard Friedman, who struck down a 2004 constitutional amendment that says marriage is between a man and a woman.

The appeals process will take months to work it’s way through the court system.

(source)

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Federal Appeals Court issues stay on same-sex marriage ruling in Michigan

The Sixth Circuit Appeals Court has issued a temporary stay on the recent same-sex marriage ruling in Michigan.

From the Detroit News:

The U.S. Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit has issued a temporary stay on Michigan’s gay marriage case until Wednesday.

“To allow a more reasoned consideration of the motion to stay, it is ordered that the district court’s judgment is temporarily stayed until Wednesday,” the order read.

Earlier Saturday, the appeals court issued a one-page order directing the attorneys for the same sex couple who had sought to get married to respond to Attorney General Bill Schuette’s request for an emergency stay by noon Tuesday.

According to reports, before the stay was issued 323 marriage licenses were issued and more than 200 gay couples married in four counties across Michigan on Saturday. Stay tuned to see if the stay is upheld past Wednesday.

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Michigan: Four Episcopal Bishops applaud overturn of state ban on same-sex marriage

Four Episcopal Bishops have released a statement applauding the ruling in Michigan which overturns the state’s marriage equality ban:

As Christians and leaders in the Episcopal Church, we applaud Judge Friedman’s decision to overturn Michigan’s ban on equal marriage as a step on the right side of history.

As the case of DeBoer v. Snyder continues to work its way through our judicial system, it is our hope that future judges will continue to find that the denial of marriage to same-sex couples is a denial of human dignity and a denial of rights under the law. We look forward in hopeful anticipation to the day when we can recognize all faithful and covenantal relationships between any two people regardless of sex, both within the Church and within our society.

Signed,

The Rt. Rev. Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr. – Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan

The Rt. Rev. Whayne M. Houglund, Jr. – Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan

The Rt. Rev. Todd Ousely – Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan

The Rt. Rev. Rayford Ray – Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan

(source)

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Michigan sees first same-sex marriage this morning

https://twitter.com/BarbByrum/statuses/447346131668709376

What is believed to be Michigan’s first same-sex marriage was performed shortly after 8 a.m. today by Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum at the historic courthouse in Mason.

Glenna DeJong, 53, and Marsha Caspar, 52, both of Lansing, were married in the lobby after Byrum opened the clerk’s office at 8 a.m. and issued them a license.

“We’ve been waiting 27 years for this,” said DeJong.

Oakland, Muskegon and Washtenaw County clerks announced Friday night that licenses will be issued. The counties are expected to allow immediate weddings, waiving the typical three-day waiting period.

“As far as we’re concerned, we’re abiding by the federal court appellates,” Kestenbaum said. “We’re not typically open, but basically the Board of Commissioners strongly urged me to be open tomorrow.”

“I wasn’t expecting the ruling would go into effect immediately and I know there’s going to be attempts to get a stay, but I’m assuming there won’t be one by tomorrow,” Kestenbaum said. “If there is, then I’ll stop.”

Kestenbaum will waive the three-day waiting period and the fee. The license costs $20. He said at least one of the individuals must be a Washtenaw County resident in order for the license to be issued.

(from Detroit Free Press)

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Michigan judge: “The state defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about – people”

It should be noted that Judge Bernard Friedman, who ruled in favor of marriage equality today in Michigan, was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

How will the conservative right attack him as “activist judge” when appointed by their hero?

Check out his closing statement in his ruling.

“In attempting to define this case as a challenge to ‘the will of the people, … state defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about: people.

“No court record of this proceeding could ever fully convey the personal sacrifice of these two plaintiffs who seek to ensure that the state may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of othersnow being raised by same-sex couples.

“It is the Court’s fervent hope that these children will grow up ‘to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.

“Today’s decision is a step in that direction, and affirms the enduring principle that regardless of whoever finds favor in the eyes of the most recent majority, the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.”