Tag: same-sex marriage

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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.”

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Michigan judge eviscerates discredited research by Mark Regnerus in same-sex marriage ruling

One of the best parts of Judge Bernard Friedman’s ruling that found Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional were his comments on Mark Regnerus’s testimony regarding his discredited “study” on the impact of same-sex couples on children.

In short, the judge eviscerated him:

“The Court finds Regnerus’s testimony entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration.

“The evidence adduced at trial demonstrated that his 2012 ‘study’ was hastily concocted at the behest of a third-party funder, which found it ‘essential that the necessary data be gathered to settle the question in the forum of public debate about what kinds of family arrangement are best for society’ and which ‘was confident that the traditional understanding of marriage will be vindicated by this study.’

“While Regnerus maintained that the funding source did not affect his impartiality as a researcher, the Court finds this testimony unbelievable. The funder clearly wanted a certain result, and Regnerus obliged.

“Whatever Regnerus may have found in this ‘study,’ he certainly cannot purport to have undertaken a scholarly research effort to compare the outcomes of children raised by same-sex couples with those of children raised by heterosexual couples.

“It is no wonder that the NFSS has been widely and severely criticized by other scholars, and that Regnerus’s own sociology department at the University of Texas has distanced itself from the NFSS in particular and Dr. Regnerus’s views in general.”

Bolding is mine.  But you have to love the “quotes” around the word study placed there by the judge.

Regnerus’ “study” has been held up by right-wing nuts as ‘evidence” that same-sex couples can’t raise children with the same success as heterosexual couples.

Thank you Judge Friedman for not only your fair and balanced ruling, but shining a light on Regnerus’ sad slop-job of a study meant only to harm LGBT families.

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Michigan judge rules same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

Today, a federal judge in Michigan ruled unconstitutional the state’s laws prohibiting marriages for gay and lesbian couples, saying that they violate the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Judge Bernard Friedman’s decision comes two weeks after the 9-day trial in DeBoer v. Snyder came to a close.

The trial was the second time a federal court heard expert testimony on the issue of marriage for gay and lesbian couples. In January 2010, AFER’s attorneys led by Ted Olson and David Boies presented 17 witnesses in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (later Hollingsworth v. Perry).

Similar to recent rulings, Judge Friedman found that state laws violate the United States Constitution:

“Today’s decision…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.”

Included in the ruling is Friedman’s opinion that findings from Mark Regnerus’s often rebuked study about same-sex families were “entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration.”

This is the sixth time a federal court has ruled such discriminatory laws unconstitutional, and the fifth state to do so in the last three months.

The lawsuit was filed by two nurses, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, and on behalf of their three children.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed an emergency request for stay of Friedman’s ruling.

The decision is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio by the state defendants.

You can read the decision below:

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Michigan: Episcopal Bishop supports marriage equality

With the ruling in the Michigan marriage equality lawsuit due anytime time, Bishop Wendell Gibbs, of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, has issued this statement in support of marriage equality:

“Picking and choosing whose rights should be protected or which civil rights the church will support is neither American ‘justice for all’ nor supported by the God of salvation history. I stand in support of marriage equality and pray that our justice system will work to break down the walls of segregation, promote the humanity of all and calm our irrational fears.”

(via Pink News)

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Wyoming sees statewide campaign for marriage equality

A new campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Wyoming, Wyoming Unites for Marriage, kicked off on the steps of the Capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyoming on Monday.

The campaign will work in conjunction with a lawsuit filed in state court on behalf of four same-sex couples, along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, challenging Wyoming’s ban on marriage for gays and lesbians.

Jeran Artery, chairman of Wyoming Equality, said advocates will hold rallies and discussions throughout the state to build support for the lawsuit and their goal — to make civil unions between same-sex couples legal in the state.

“As that case makes it way through the courts, there is nothing more important that we can do than have meaningful conversations about why marriage matters to all of Wyoming’s families,” Artery told supporters Monday.

“At the end of the day, marriage for same-sex couples is about treating others like we would like to be treated,” he added. “In Wyoming right now, loving same-sex couples and their families are being denied the protections that only marriage can provide.”

Citing the national trend, Artery predicted it won’t be long before same-sex couples can marry and have equality in Wyoming — known as the Equality State.

Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, a Cheyenne Republican, said he has supported same-sex marriage in the 10 years he has served in the Wyoming House. During that time, the Legislature has not passed any anti-gay legislation. He predicted gay marriage will no longer be an issue 10 years from now.

(via Trib.com)

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Oregon Attorney General: “Same-sex marriage ban serves no rational purpose”

Last month, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced, like many state attorneys general, she would not defend the state’s same-sex marriage ban in court.

Rosenblum has now filed a response brief in the state’s same-sex marriage case stating, in part:

“The state defendants in this case recognize that the ban on same-sex marriage serves no rational purpose and harms Oregon citizens. This case presents that rare case in which there simply is no legal argument to be made in support of a state law.”

Oregon United For Marriage released this statement:

“We are literally counting down the days until all loving and committed couples in Oregon have the freedom to marry, and we are thrilled that the attorney general is on the right side of history. No one should be told it is illegal to marry the person they love. Freedom means freedom for everyone.”

(via JMG)

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Chick-Fil-A CEO says he regrets stepping into marriage equality debate

Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy

In 2012, Chick-Fil-A executive Dan Cathy made several comments opposing same-sex marriage and oversaw his company donate $5 million to anti-gay groups.

The backlash was swift and the media covered the many stages of protest from the pro-gay “Kiss In” at several restaurant locations to an anti-gay countrywide Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.

Now Cathy says he regrets taking the restaurant into the culture wars, and feels he’s learned something along the way. He had this to say recently to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“I think that’s a political debate that’s going to rage on,” Cathy told the Journal-Constitution in an article published Friday. “And the wiser thing for us to do is to stay focused on customer service.”

That doesn’t mean he didn’t learn anything from the 2012 firestorm, though.

“Every leader goes through different phases of maturity, growth and development and it helps by [recognizing] the mistakes that you make,” Cathy said. “And you learn from those mistakes. If not, you’re just a fool. I’m thankful that I lived through it and I learned a lot from it.”

ThinkProgress reports that Chick-Fil-A has cut back donations to anti-gay groups from $5 million to $25K last year.

That being said, Cathy says his views on marriage haven’t changed.

“I think the time of truths and principles are captured and codified in God’s word and I’m just personally committed to that,” he told the Journal-Constitution. “I know others feel very different from that and I respect their opinion and I hope that they would be respectful of mine.”

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Federal judge orders Tennessee to recognize 3 couples same-sex marriages

A federal judge has ordered the state of Tennessee to recognize the legal marriages of three same-sex couples while their lawsuit is under consideration based on the judge’s opinion that the couples will ultimately win their case.

From Buzzfeed:

In considering the request for a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger wrote that “all relevant federal authority indicates that the plaintiffs in this case are indeed likely to prevail on their claims that the Anti-Recognition Laws are unconstitutional.”

The plaintiffs, she noted, filed the case only on their own behalf, so the temporary ruling affects only the state’s treatment of the three couples.

In granting her injunction, Judge Trauger wrote that “all signs indicate that, in the eyes of the United States Constitution, the plaintiffs’ marriages will be placed on an equal footing with those of heterosexual couples and that proscriptions against same-sex marriage will soon become a footnote in the annals of American history.”

You can read the judge’s opinion at Buzzfeed.