Tag: same-sex marriage

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Former South Carolina lawmaker changes stance on marriage equality

John Hawkins, a former state senator for the 12th district, spearheaded the campaign to pass a constitutional ban on marriage equality in South Carolina in 2005. The ban in still on the books in the state keeping gays and lesbians from the same marriage rights straight couples celebrate in the state.

Today, however, Hawkins has had a change of heart on the issue. From Live5News in Charleston:

“I was wrong about pursuing the marriage amendment,” Hawkins said. “I wish I hadn’t been so strident against it.”

Hawkins said his opinion changed over the past eight years because of “enlightenment, empathy and understanding.”

“Alliance for Full Acceptance” Executive Director Warren Redman-Gress said he invited Hawkins to speak before the group’s bi-monthly meeting after reading a Facebook post from the former lawmaker, which detailed his changed opinion.

“I’m really hoping that people are going to walk away from this with a little bit of healing,” he said. “It would be great if everyone who stood against us in the Senate said, ‘We were wrong; In fact, you really do deserve equal rights.'”

Hawkins served in the state Senate from 2001 until 2009 and currently works as a lawyer in Greenville. He says he has no plans to run for public office again.

“People can change,” “There is hope for change for people in all stripes for acceptance of our fellow human beings and their right to marry.”

Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports
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Labor Department says same-sex married couples entitled to employment/pension benefits

The effects of repealing DOMA continue to show up as the Labor Department steps up with new guidance on employment benefits:

The Labor Department now says that same-sex married couples are entitled to the same employment benefits as straight married couples regardless of where they live. What this means is that your spouse can now participate in your company’s retirement plan, such as a 401K plans.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez called the ruling a “historic step forward.” Previously, Perez had hedged on whether the ruling from the Labor Department, which regulates private retirement plans, would apply in states that hadn’t legalized marriage equality. The new ruling clears that up.

“By providing greater clarity on how the Supreme Court’s decision affects one of the laws we enforce, we are contributing to greater equality and greater protection for America’s working families,” EBSA Assistant Secretary Phyllis Borzi said.

The guidance does make note that these provisions are reserved for married couples, not those in civil unions or domestic partnerships.

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Marriage News Watch – September 15, 2013

• The lawsuits are piling up in Pennsylvania, where a judge has put marriages on an indefinite hold.

• It’ll be at least a month and a half before the New Mexico Supreme Court will decide whether the state can issue marriage licenses.

• And the New Mexico clerk who first issued licenses has started a fundraising campaign — he now needs tens of thousands of dollars to defend against an anti-gay lawsuit.

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San Diego: VA home hosts 1st same-sex wedding

Sweet story.

Together 20 years, WWII vet John Banvard, 95, and 67-year-old Vietnam vet Gerard Nadeau, said they wanted to have their ceremony among friends, so they chose to have it at the Veteran’s Home, where they’ve lived for the last three years.

“We were waiting on the Supreme Court to make that decision,” said Banvard.

Many of the couple’s friends who live at the veteran’s home attended the small and simple ceremony.

“The world is changing, we have to go along with it,” said one guest.

Facility director Neal Asper said news of two men getting married at the VA home wasn’t well received by everyone. A town hall meeting was held at the VA home to address concerns from other residents.

“It’s been somewhat controversial,” said Asper. “I told them, they have the right to get married here just like everybody else.”

Video had auto-play, which I hate. You can view the video at this link.

(source)

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Pennsylvania: Judge orders County clerk to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses

A Pennsylvania judge has issued a ruling ordering a suburban Philadelphia court clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying it was a clear violation of his legal authority.

From CBS Philadelphia reports:

Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini on Thursday issued an order that said Montgomery County Register of Wills Bruce Hanes didn’t have the power to decide on his own whether the same-sex marriage ban violates the state constitution.

Judge Pellegrini said last Wednesday that he would rule quickly on oral arguments in the lawsuit filed by Governor Tom Corbett against Montgomery County Register of Wills Bruce Hanes with regard to the 174 same-sex marriage licenses Hanes has handed out since July.

The judge did not rule on whether those same-sex couples who have married are legally married or if the state can and will annul their marriages.

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Kirtland Air Force Base begins recognizing New Mexico same-sex marriage

Courtney Schmelling and Sr. Airman Natalie Throckmorton married on August 28 in New Mexico. New Mexico is currently in flux regarding marriage equality as 8 counties have recently begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  There is no specific law banning marriage equality in the state.

After initially being told ‘no’, she could not have a spousal military ID card based on her marriage in New Mexico because it was “not one of the states that have statewide legislative or judicial decisions allowing for same-sex couples to marry,” Schmelling said that officials at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque changed their position and issued her the card.

Buzzfeed has an email by the American Military Partners Association confirming the change:

“Effective Sept. 3, the Secretary of Defense announced that all military departments will extend benefits to same-sex spouses of military members and retirees. On Sept. 5, military members and their same-sex spouses came into the 377th Force Support Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base with marriage certificates issued in New Mexico. Because civil authorities in New Mexico have only recently begun to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the guidance in hand for Department of Defense identification cards didn’t address jurisdictions in New Mexico. The issue of those ID cards was delayed while Air Force officials sought clarification,” spokeswoman Meredith Mingledorff wrote.

“Based on information received Sept. 6 from Headquarters Air Force Personnel Center on jurisdictions not covered in previous guidance, officials at Kirtland are issuing dependent ID cards to same-sex spouses of military members and retirees with valid marriage certificates from jurisdictions within New Mexico,” she continued.

(via Towleroad)

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Marriage News Watch – September 9, 2013

Marriage continues to expand one county at a time in New Mexico, and one couple at a time in Ohio. But a state Supreme Court ruling may soon change all that.

We had oral arguments in Pennsylvania, there’s a new southern lawsuit, and a controversial voter initiative in Arizona seems to have died before it could make it to the ballot.

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Hawaii: Special legislative session called to consider marriage equality

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie WILL call a special session of the state legislature to consider marriage equality.

The special session will convene on October 28th.  From Advocate:

“This is now the 20th year of discussion that has taken place on the issue and associated issues with it,” Abercrombie told reporters at a press conference. “I feel very, very strongly that the votes are there to pass this because it is time for marriage equity to take place.”

The special session will last about five days, and the proposed bill will include a religious exemption to quell the fears of those who worry marriage equality will be forced upon any church, Abercrombie said. If the bill is approved, same-sex marriages could begin in the state as early as November 18.

Good luck, Hawaii.  Get out there, do that community outreach and get some “aloha.”

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New Mexico Supreme Court schedules hearing for same-sex marriage license case

New Mexico’s highest court has scheduled a hearing next month in a case that could resolve whether same-sex marriage is legal in the state.

The state Supreme Court on Friday set the hearing for Oct. 23.

The five-member court took the step a day after New Mexico’s counties and county clerks statewide filed a petition asking the justices to decide whether a judge in Albuquerque was correct in declaring it unconstitutional to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

More than 900 marriage licenses have been issued in New Mexico since Aug. 21, when the Dona Ana County clerk decided independently that gay marriage was allowed in the state.

Seven other counties have started issuing licenses to same-sex couples or plan to do that, several in response to court orders.

(via LGBTQ Nation)