Tag: same-sex marriage

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AFER: 33% of Americans live in states with marriage equality

The American Foundation for Equal Rights has posted this graphic on their blog showing that 33% of Americans now live in a state with marriage equality:

With New Jersey now recognizing the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples, one third of the U.S. population now lives in a state with marriage equality, based on the 2010 U.S. Census.

State Date Effective Population Percent
Massachusetts May 2004 6,547,629 2.12%
Connecticut Nov. 2008 3,574,097 1.16%
Iowa Apr. 2009 3,046,355 0.99%
Vermont Jun. 2009 625,741 0.20%
New Hampshire Jan. 2010 1,316,470 0.43%
Washington, D.C. Mar. 2010 601,723 0.19%
New York Jun. 2011 19,378,361 6.28%
Washington Dec. 2012 6,724,540 2.18%
Maine Dec. 2012 1,328,361 0.43%
Maryland Jan. 2013 5,773,552 1.87%
Delaware Jun. 2013 897,934 0.29%
California Jun. 2013 37,253,956 12.07%
Minnesota Aug. 2013 5,303,925 1.72%
Rhode Island Aug. 2013 1,052,567 0.34%
New Jersey Oct. 2013 8,791,894 2.84%

 Total 102,216,846 33.11%
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Ohio: John Arthur, who sued for the right to be buried next to his husband, dies at 48

Cincinatti.com has reported that John Arthur, who in July flew to Maryland with his partner of 20 years, Jim Obergfell, so that they could marry on the airport tarmac before Arthur’s ALS, a progressive neurological disease that robs patients of their ability to walk, talk and eventually breathe, became too difficult, has died at the age of 48.

My sincerest condolences go to Jim Obergfell, and their friends and family. John Arthur’s courage to fight for his rights, in the face of his ongoing terminal illness, made a big difference for many Ohio couples.

Mr. Arthur was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2011, and his terminal illness played a prominent role in the couple’s decision to marry and in the ensuing legal battle. He and Obergefell had been a couple since 1992 but decided to marry after the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 26 decision striking down portions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Several days after their marriage, they filed a lawsuit in federal court in Cincinnati against the state and the city of Cincinnati, claiming that failure to recognize their marriage violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, because Ohio recognized other marriages performed outside the state that Ohio itself banned, such as marriages between first cousins or minors.

Mr. Arthur’s terminal illness allowed the case to move more quickly through the court. It also allowed Gerhardstein to argue that the couple would face “irreparable harm” if Mr. Arthur was listed as single on his death certificate. Additionally, Mr. Arthur’s family plot at Spring Grove Cemetery is limited to direct descendants and their spouses, so the question of recognizing their marriage also was likely to influence where he was buried and whether his partner could someday be buried next to him.

In July, Federal Judge Timothy Black issued a temporary order requiring that Arthur be listed as married on his death certificate and Obergefell be named his surviving spouse.

(via Towleroad)

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State Reps. Brian Sims & Steve McCarter ask Gov. Corbett to follow NJ Governor’s lead

State Reps. Steve McCarter and Brian Sims

State Reps. Brian Sims and Steve McCarter, both Democrats from the Philadelphia region who are sponsoring a gay-marriage bill, issued a statement Monday within hours of Christie’s announcement that he was dropping his court challenge to New Jersey’s law.

“Once again, we’re seeing that even conservative Republicans are realizing that all Americans deserve equal rights,” Sims said. “Unfortunately, here in Pennsylvania, where LGBT Pennsylvanians lack even a single LGBT civil right, some members of the Republican Party would sooner be the Republicans of 1955 rather than 2025. It’s unconscionable that Pennsylvanians who get married out of state can still be fired for putting a wedding photo on their desks.”

“It’s a black eye on the state of Pennsylvania that nearly all of our neighboring states have decided to enter the 21st century and grant equality to all their citizens, yet we still are stuck in the Stone Age,” McCarter said. “Plain and simple, the fact that Pennsylvanians can now cross a border and be granted more rights than they currently have in their own state is a problem that needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed now.”

Corbett has publicly opposed gay marriage and he’s a defendant in a federal lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s gay-marriage ban. Spokesman Jay Pagni noted that, unlike New Jersey’s situation, no legal challenge has reached Pennsylvania’s supreme court.

Sims and McCarter also noted that Pennsylvania lacks basic protections against discrimination against gays in housing, employment and public accommodation.

(source)

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Tennessee: Four couples file suit to challenge marriage equality ban

Marking 20 states that now have lawsuits for marriage equality, Tennessee saw a new lawsuit filed today by four couples who married in other states and want the state of Tennessee to recognize their marriages, just like the state recognizes straight marriages from other states.

Via press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

Today, four legally married same-sex couples who live in Tennessee filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Nashville, challenging Tennessee laws that prevent the state from recognizing their marriages and treating them the same as all other legally married couples in Tennessee. The couples, who include a full-time Army reservist and his husband and two professors of veterinary medicine, all formerly lived and married in other states and later moved to Tennessee to pursue careers and make new homes for their families. Tennessee law currently prohibits recognition of their marriages and treats the couples as legal strangers.

The lawsuit argues that Tennessee’s laws prohibiting recognition of the couples’ marriages violates the federal Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process and the constitutionally protected right to travel between and move to other states.

The couples are Dr. Valeria Tanco and Dr. Sophy Jesty  of Knoxville; Army Reserve Sergeant First Class Ijpe DeKoe and Thom Kostura of Memphis; Kellie Miller and Vanessa DeVillez of Greenbrier; and Matthew Mansell and Johno Espejo of Franklin.

“Getting married not only enabled us to express our love and commitment to one another, but it also provided us with the protections we would need as we started our new lives together,” said Dr. Jesty, who moved to Tennessee with her wife in 2011 to accept a teaching position at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville, where her spouse also teaches. “When we moved to Tennessee, we lost those protections. Now that Val is pregnant with our first child, having those protections is more important than ever.”

Sergeant DeKoe, who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan, said: “Fairness and equality are the guiding principles of our government, and as a member of the armed forces, I have fought and will continue to fight for those principles. After returning to Memphis with Thom, I was saddened to learn that Tennessee law does not live up to those ideals in the way it treats married same-sex couples.”

Said attorney Rubenfeld: “Tennessee is the volunteer state—it is our tradition to honor and applaud those who voluntarily move here to enjoy the benefits of this great state—not deny them benefits and respect afforded them in other states. Tennessee traditionally values fairness and family. The time has come for Tennessee law to be true to those values by including same-sex couples who legally married before moving to Tennessee because this state is as much their home as it is ours. We believe that the United States Constitution requires that Tennessee law treat married same-sex couples like all other married couples. Today, we ask the courts to reaffirm that dignity and respect are core values in Tennessee and that our anti-marriage recognition laws conflict with those values.”

“Tennessee recognizes the marriages and families of all other couples that were married out-of-state” said Harbison, a partner at Sherrard & Roe. “It is wrong and unfair for Tennessee law to single out these legally married couples and treat them as legal strangers to one another simply because of who they are.”

Read more the NCLR website

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Gov. Chris Christie gets unfriended by Brian Brown of NOM over marriage equality

NOM’s Brian Brown is TOTALLY sad that same-sex couples have equal rights in New Jersey regarding marriage.

From the NOM Blog:

“There’s no question that the courts of New Jersey are responsible for the imposition of same-sex marriage in that state, and we sharply criticize them for redefining our most important social institution with no regard to the wishes of voters or even elected officials,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president. “The refusal of the New Jersey Supreme Court to order a stay of the same-sex ‘marriage’ ruling was wrong, and the latest example of an activist judiciary running amok, substituting their views for those of the people of the state.

Still, we are extremely disappointed in Governor Chris Christie for withdrawing the state’s appeal of the underlying decision, effectively throwing in the towel on marriage. The mark of a leader is to walk a principled walk no matter the difficulty of the path. Chris Christie has failed the test, abandoning both voters and the core institution of society – marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

A superior court judge had imposed same-sex marriage in New Jersey in a ruling in September, with same-sex ‘marriages’ set to begin today. Christie’s administration appealed the decision and sought a stay to preserve the status-quo until the merits of the case is heard next year. The New Jersey Supreme Court denied the request for the stay, and today Christie dropped his appeal of the underlying decision imposing same-sex marriage.

“It’s a sad day for the voters of New Jersey,” said Brown. “An activist judiciary has once again imposed its views and ignored the rights of voters. We will continue to fight for the right of New Jersey voters to determine the definition of marriage. Regrettably, Governor Christie’s decision to surrender on marriage reveals him to be a man who lacks the courage of his supposed convictions. As far as we are concerned, it’s a disqualifying failure. His surrender on marriage effectively surrenders any chance he might have had to secure the GOP nomination for president.”

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New Jersey readies for wedding business boom thanks to marriage equality

Even though it was just this past Friday that the NJ Supreme Court refused to stop marriage equality from beginning on Monday morning, many businesses are already seeing calls and orders for wedding services.

In fact, some economists are predicting a surge of as much as $94 million over the next three years could flood into the New Jersey economy thanks to marriage equality.

Luigi Ficarra, a Maplewood caterer, has already received over a dozen calls to handle same-sex weddings over the next few weeks.

More from NJ.com:

Barry Herman, owner of Barry Herman Entertainment in Livingston, a company that books wedding bands and DJs, said his company has received five calls from same-sex couples.

“There’s always been a market for commitment parties, but now it may become a bigger market since it is different than a commitment party. It’s a wedding,” said Herman.

North Bergen wedding photographer Leslie Barbaro is also anticipating a boom in business. “I got a bump when gay marriage was legalized in Delaware,” she said. “Over the past two years I’ve photographed some very emotional same-sex weddings in Delaware and New York and I’m looking forward to being able to do the same in my home state.”

And many businesses are promoting the fact that they’ve always been happy to serve their customers, whether gay or straight. Check out this bakery in the video below already looking forward to contributing to same-sex weddings.

Congrats New Jersey!

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New Jersey: Stay denied! Marriage equality WILL begin Monday

Oh, yeah!  Happy dance time!
From Lambda Legal: Today the New Jersey Supreme Court, agreeing with the lower court’s Sept. 27th ruling, denied the State’s motion to postpone allowing same-sex couples to marry. Lambda Legal had filed a brief on behalf of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s statewide LGBT advocacy organization, and six same-sex couples who seek the freedom to marry, asking the Court to deny the motion for a stay.
In today’s decision, the Court wrote:
What is the public’s interest in a case like this? Like Judge Jacobson, we can find no public interest in depriving a group of New Jersey residents of their constitutional right to equal protection while the appeals process unfolds.