Tag: same-sex marriage

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Taiwan’s Highest Court Rules In Favor Of Marriage Equality

(image via Instagram)

Taiwan to become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage thanks to the nation’s highest court.

From South China Morning Post:

Taiwan’s top court, the Council of Grand Justices, ruled in favour of gay marriage on Wednesday, paving the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalise gay unions.

The ruling by a panel of 14 grand justices in Taipei said the current law that barred same-sex marriage was a violation of the constitution, as everybody – regardless of gender – should enjoy the same marriage rights.

Lu Tai-lang, secretary general of the Council of Grand Justices, said authorities must revise the civil code within two years to bring about the legislative change. “Even if the authorities fail to revise the law at the end of the two-year period, gay couples can always register with local household offices to make their marriage legal and they will enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples do,” Lu said.

The court ruling said disallowing same-sex marriage to safeguard the social order had “no rational basis” and was incompatible with the spirit of equality.

The court has ordered the country’s parliament to amend or enact new laws to accommodate marriage equality within two years. LGBT activists hope to accomplish the task before the end of the year.

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U.S. Marriage Equality Began In Massachusetts 13 Years Ago Today

13 years ago today, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States (and the 6th jurisdiction in the world) to legalize same-sex marriage.

I’ll mention that I actually married my husband about six months before while working in Toronto, Canada, thinking U.S. marriage rights would be out of my grasp for years to come.

And it would be four years before California and Connecticut would follow suit.

The dominoes would begin to fall more quickly after that as Iowa and Vermont joined the party in 2009, and New Hampshire and the District of Columbia would do the same in 2010.

2013 and 2014 would be big years for the marriage equality movement. And, of course, 2015 gave us the Obergefell ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court which made same-sex marriage the law of the land.

As my friend Michelangelo Signorile says, “It’s not over yet.” The Equality Act is necessary to bring federal LGBT protections into line regarding a host of areas including housing, employment and more.

But, we can take a second to look back and enjoy the landmark achievement in LGBT rights made 13 years ago today.

#Forward

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Gallup: Support For Marriage Equality Continues To Rise

From Gallup:

Americans’ support for same-sex marriage has more than doubled since Gallup first polled on the issue in 1996, when 27% said it should be recognized as valid by the law.

In 2004 — weeks before gay weddings took place in Massachusetts after it became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage — less than half of Americans (42%) felt such unions should be legally valid.

Majority support for gay marriage would not come until May 2011, about a month before New York became the sixth state to legalize it.

Since then, support for legal same-sex marriage has steadily climbed, with consistent majorities in favor of it since late 2012.

Gallup also reports that support for same-sex relations has also reached an all-time high of 72%.

When Gallup first began polling on the issue in 1977, only 43% said same-sex relations should be legal.

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Nevada Legislature Takes Steps To Remove State Constitutional Ban On Marriage Equality

The Nevada legislature is taking steps to remove the state’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality just in case the U.S. Supreme Court might reverse it’s 2015 Obergefell ruling.

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

The Nevada Senate on Monday approved a proposed constitutional amendment recognizing same-sex marriage, a preemptive move to protect gay marriage should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn its previous ruling.

Assembly Joint Resolution 2 passed 19-2 after it was amended to include an exemption stipulating religious organizations and clergy could not be forced to solemnize gay marriages.

Republican Sens. Joe Hardy of Boulder City and Don Gustavson of Sparks voted no.

It now goes back to the Assembly to concur with the Senate’s amendment. It was approved earlier in the Assembly 27-14, with Republican Lisa Krasner of Reno in support. The resolution would have to be approved by the Legislature again in 2019 before it is sent to voters for ratification in 2020.

Introduced by Assemblyman Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, AJR2 also would repeal a constitutional provision passed by voters in 2002 that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in June 2015. But there are concerns about the future legality of gay marriage in the U.S. under Republican President Donald Trump and potential vacancies on the high court under his administration.

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News Round-Up: April 12, 2017

Some news items you may have missed:

• Fitness model/hottie Nick Sandell (above) is looking forward to Friday, too. Happy Hump Day!

• The wife of Omar Mateen, the shooter in the Pulse Nightclub massacre, has pled not guilty to aiding and abetting her husband in the deadly attack. The judge set a trial date of June 5th – one week before the 1st anniversary of the mass shooting.

• North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore says he won’t bring the recently filed legislation to ignore the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage up for a vote.

• Lisa Kudrow is set to join the cast of “Grace & Frankie!”

• A new medical study suggests poppers, inhalants used by gay men during sex, could cause central vision problems.

• Is Steve Bannon on the way out of the White House? President Trump begins a sentence with, “I like Steve, but…”

• Shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Washington Post adopted a new slogan – “Democracy dies in darkness.” Today, journalist Michael Wolff told White House counselor Kellyanne Conway that “when they say ‘democracy dies in darkness,’ you’re the darkness.” She wasn’t too appreciative of the sentiment. Watch below.

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Texas: State Senate Approves Legislation Allowing Officials To Refuse Marriage Licenses To Same-Sex Couples

Republican lawmakers in the Texas state Senate have approved a bill which would allow judges and elected officials to opt-out of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on personal religious objections.

The bill passed an early vote by 21-10 with only one Democrat voting for the legislation. A final Senate vote should come later today, and then the bill heads over to the state House.

From NBC News:

Texas’ Republican-controlled Legislature only meets every two years, meaning state lawmakers weren’t able to respond to the high court’s June 2015 gay marriage decision until now. Should the bill become law, however, it will almost certainly be challenged as unconstitutional by federal lawsuits.

Opponents say it sanctions discrimination and defies the nation’s highest court.

“The Texas Senate today said it has no problem with public officials picking and choosing which taxpayers they will serve,” Kathy Miller, president of the progressive activist group the Texas Freedom Network, said in a statement. “This bill opens the door to taxpayer-funded discrimination against virtually anyone who doesn’t meet a public official’s personal moral standards.”

Similar bills in other states have not withstood legal challenges.

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North Carolina GOP Lawmakers File Bill Declaring SCOTUS Ruling On Marriage Equality “Null And Void”

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The Republican-led General Assembly of North Carolina just filed House Bill 780 declaring that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling which made marriage equality the law of the land is “null and void in the state of North Carolina.”

From the bill:

The General Assembly of the State of North Carolina declares that the Obergefell v. Hodges decision of the United States Supreme Court of 2015 is null and void in the State of North Carolina, and that the State of North Carolina shall henceforth uphold and enforce Section 6 of Article XIV of the North Carolina Constitution, the opinion and objection of the United States Supreme Court notwithstanding.

Good luck with that one, North Carolina.

#WillNeverBecomeLaw

I wonder how “welcoming” and “inclusive” the NCAA will view North Carolina now…?

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Poll: Huge Support For Marriage Equality In Germany

A new poll conducted for German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag, shows huge support – 75% – for marriage equality in Germany.

The survey indicated only 20% oppose legalizing same-sex marriage.

While Germany legalized civil partnerships in 2001, it remains one of the few nations in Western Europe without the freedom to marry someone of the same-sex.

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel opposes same-sex marriage having told the media, “For me, marriage is a man and a woman living together.”

Germany’s Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency published similar results from a poll in January found that 83% of Germans supported legal equality for same-sex marriage.

According to Berlin’s Dalia Research company,  Germany has the largest LGBT+ population in Europe.

Currently , there are 13 countries in Europe that recognize same-sex marriages – Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain.

(source)

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Taiwan’s Constitutional Court Hears Arguments For Marriage Equality

A panel of 14 judges will hear a case today that could make Taiwan the first country in Asia to legalize marriage equality.

Veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei and the Taipei city government filed the petitions with the Constitutional Court asking for a ruling on whether Taiwan’s civil code, which states that marriage is between a man and a woman, is constitutional.

The ruling, expected within two months, would be legally binding. If the law is found to be unconstitutional, Taiwan’s parliament would have to change the laws to accommodate same-sex couples.

President Tsai Ing-wen has previously said she would support marriage equality.

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Gorsuch: Same-Sex Marriage Is “Absolutely Settled Law” But Talking About It Would “Send Misleading Signal”

Slogging through Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch’s Senate hearing today, my ears did perk up on a bit of discussion on same-sex marriage.

While he acknowledged that the issue is “absolutely settled law,” he seemed to muddle the issue a bit when asked how his views on marriage have changed over the years.

Gorsuch dodged the question with a distinctively vague response, saying speaking on the issue “would send a misleading signal to the American people.”

He also said, “Any revelation of my personal views about this matter would indicate to people about how I might rule as a judge. Mistakenly, but it might. And I have to be concerned about that.”

Hmm….

I wasn’t the only one who found that disconcerting.