LGBTQ news and entertainment
With a 6-3 majority ruling from the Colombian Constitution Court today, Colombia becomes the latest South American country to legalize same-sex marriage!
In addition to Colombia, marriage equality is celebrated in South America in Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and French Guiana.
The state of Tennessee has been ordered by a federal judge in Nashville to pay the legal fees of the three couples whose lawsuit brought about marriage equality in the state.
From the Knoxville News Sentinel:
Judge Aleta Trauger awarded $1.98 million in attorneys’ fees and $59,916 in expenses to the plaintiffs, which include Knoxville veterinarians Valeria Tanco and Sophy Jesty. The award, allowed under federal law, is 15 percent less than the $2.33 million the plaintiffs sought.
“The results obtained in this case were superb and far-reaching,” Trauger wrote in her memo. “As the prevailing party, the plaintiffs will, therefore, be rewarded a significant portion of their requested reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses under Section 1988.”
A spokesman for Tennessee Attorney General Hebert H. Slatery’s office said his office was still reviewing the order Monday afternoon and did not have a comment. In court documents filed in January and unsealed on March 7, Slatery’s office argued the plaintiffs’ attorneys were overcharging for their services, and insisted they should be paid $1.1 million instead.
According to JoeMyGod, same-sex marriage plaintiffs nationwide have been awarded a total of $17,090,388.61 in legal fees and court costs, thus far.
I hope the haters who pushed the issue so far feel every single dime was worth losing.
#Forward
It appears marriage equality could be only two votes from reality in Colombia.
From The Perchy Bird:
Sources close to the Court say that the magistrates will vote against one conservative judge’s proposal to annul marriages registered by lower courts, keep civil unions as the only option for couples, and state that only Congress can change marriage laws. The expected vote is 6-3 to defeat this opinion.
Next would come the final vote on a counter-opinion to legalize same-sex marriage. The same 6 out of 9 judges are expected to extend the right to marry to gay couples.
The two pending votes may come on two different days. The media says that everyone will have to wait until after Holy Week for any final action.
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| Sen. Bob Day of Australia |
As Parliament debated the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill in Australia this week, anti-gay Senator Bob Day took time to slap same-sex couples as “unfaithful” and took umbrage at the idea that those who would deny equal rights to LGBTs are “bigots.”
Day also resorted to the common tactic of the ever-fearful “slippery slope:” if two men can marry, why stop there?
‘If this bill seeks marriage equality, what is it trying to protect equally? What relationships then are not marriages? Why would redefining marriage stop at same-sex relationships? The bill talks about two people, but why not three?’ said Day.
Quoting LGBT columnist and activist Dan Savage: ‘The term “monogamish” — monogamy as a kind of “monogamish” — has now been coined, a sort of “open marriage” — a tautology if ever I heard one in this brave new world—as they feel a restriction to one partner is unrealistic and unnatural.”
Following debate in the Senate, no vote on the legislation was held.
The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously reversed the Alabama Supreme Court’s refusal to recognize adoption regarding a same-sex couple.
From USA Today:
The justices upheld a challenge brought by an Alabama woman after her state’s highest court refused to recognize the adoption she and her former lesbian partner were granted in Georgia.
The couple never married and have since split up. But the case presented a test of an issue that crops up occasionally in state and federal courts since the Supreme Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage: Can gays and lesbians be denied adoption rights?
The case was brought by “V.L.,” as she is identified in court papers, against her former partner “E.L.,” who gave birth to three children between 2002-04 while the couple was together. To win adoption rights for V.L., they established temporary residency in Georgia.
Now that they have split, E.L. agreed with the Alabama Supreme Court, which ruled in September that Georgia mistakenly granted V.L. joint custody. E.L.’s lawyers argued that “the Georgia court had no authority under Georgia law to award such an adoption, which is therefore void and not entitled to full faith and credit.”
The National Center for Lesbian Rights, which worked on the appeal, issued a statement today which reads in part:
“The Supreme Court’s reversal of Alabama’s unprecedented decision to void an adoption from another state is a victory not only for our client but for thousands of adopted families,” said National Center for Lesbian Rights Family Law Director Cathy Sakimura, who is representing V.L. “No adoptive parent or child should have to face the uncertainty and loss of being separated years after their adoption just because another state’s court disagrees with the law that was applied in their adoption.”
As he did after Super Tuesday, Republican front-runner Donald Trump held a press conference of sorts after the Super Saturday contests where he pontificated on beating his rivals, predicting Sen. Marco Rubio getting out of the race and more.
One moment that stood out for me was when he was asked to clarify his position on same-sex marriage by a reporter from the Daily Mail. Trump has gone from saying the ruling is the law of the land to admitting he would pick SCOTUS nominees that would vote to overturn the Obergefell ruling.
After hearing the question, not only did Trump not offer an answer, he dismissed the reporter telling him to “sit down.”
From the Advocate:
After Trump’s wins on Saturday in Kentucky and Louisiana, he held a news conference in Florida and took questions from reporters even though “the press is among the most dishonest people created by God.”
David Martosko of the Daily Mail asked Trump to clarify his position on same-sex marriage.
“We have policy on it, and I’ve said it very, very strongly, and I think you know it,” Trump shot back at Martosko. “And it’s all done and, you know, how many times do I have to say it?”
Trump has never supported marriage equality, calling himself a believer in “traditional” marriage.
Trump has said it’s impossible for Congress to overturn the law, and, most recently, he told Fox News that he would work to reverse the Obergefell ruling by selecting conservative nominees to the Supreme Court. That comment, made in January, was the first time he’d backed any path toward repealing marriage equality.
But Trump insisted he’d given an answer about same-sex marriage before. “I’ve said it 150 times,” he told the reporter. “We’re not here for discussing that. But everybody knows how I feel on it.”
Martosko tried to explain that Trump hadn’t clarified whether he wants to overturn the ruling because he disagrees with its premise that discrimination against same-sex couples who want to get married is a violation of the Constitution.
“David, sit down please,” he repeated while moving onto another question. “David, David, sit down, you know my position.”
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| Florist Barronelle Stutzman |
After refusing to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding in 2013, Barronelle Stutzman was found to have violated Washington state’s public accommodation laws and fined $1,000.
Stutzman has appealed the decision to the state’s supreme court, and the court has agreed to hear the appeal:
Washington’s Supreme Court says it will hear an appeal of a Richland flower shop owner who ran into legal trouble for refusing to provide services for a same-sex wedding in 2013. The court issued a decision Wednesday saying it would hear the case of Barronelle Stutzman, the proprietor of Arlene’s Flowers. Last year, Stutzman was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for refusing to provide flowers for the wedding of a long-time customer. The great-grandmother has since become a national figure, testifying before state lawmakers in Indiana and Kansas.
It’s worth noting that Stutzman received a windfall of over $170,000 from a crowdfunding campaign via supporters.
To cover a $1,000 fine.
Campaigning in Michigan, Republican White House hopeful Ohio Gov. John Kasich encountered a college student who identified as openly gay and a “staunch Democrat.”
Citing discrimination he faces on a daily basis, the student asked Kasich about his positions on LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.
Here’s what followed via NBC News:
“If I see discrimination in anything, like I said earlier, I’m willing to do what I can,” Kasich said. “Whether it’s executive order or legislation. That’s fine with me. As for marriage equality – let me be clear I’m for traditional marriage but I’ve been to my first gay wedding. A friend of mine is gay and got married. I went home and said to my wife, we’ve been invited to Steve’s wedding and you know, said this is going to be unusual for us. She said, well I’m going. Are you going? And I went. And I had a great time. And there was great champagne.”
The student pressed back, “I don’t think that’s enough for you to say you’ve been to a gay wedding.”
“Well, we’re not changing any laws,” Kasich told him. “We’re not changing. We’re not going to allow discrimination on this.”
“So the Supreme Court upheld marriage equality,” the student noted. “Does that mean you would go out of your way to protect that right?”
Kasich ended the conversation. “Look, we’re not changing any laws,” he said. “The court has spoken. That’s the end of it.”
It goes without saying that Kasich stands in stark contrast to the rest of his fellow Republicans currently seeking the GOP nomination. All of them – Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Bush and Carson – all denounce same-sex marriage.
From News-leader.com:
Spc. Shane Adriano and Pfc. Tristian Resz chose the Greene County Courthouse as a venue because they wanted something small and intimate for their Feb. 11 wedding. It was to be just the happy couple, a few supportive friends and a judge.
But after they shared their “first married kiss” photo on Facebook, their small ceremony turned into a worldwide event.
The American Military Partner Association posted the photo a few hours after the wedding. As of Monday morning, that post has been shared 800 times, has almost 4,400 likes and more than 215 comments.
Adriano told the News-Leader they have long since lost track of how many times the photo has been shared.
“It just keeps getting reshared,” he said. “We had a little bit of negative comments on there, but I wasn’t even expecting that many people to like it and share it over and over again.”
Brooklyn born recording artist Inas X drops her new single and music video “Love Is” just in time for the weekend 🙂
Via press release:
The positive, dance/pop hit was inspired by the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, and her desire to capture the historic moment. The video itself showcases people from all different walks of life to illustrate the message that love is for everyone. The joyous feeling is infectious, and by the end you have no choice but to give in to the power of love.
“I knew how important this was for so many people,” says Inas X. “Love shouldn’t be something that’s restricted. It’s a beautiful thing and there needs to be so much more of it in the world. I just had to capture this movement in a song.”
“It’s such a revolutionary time in history and must be celebrated! Love is different to everyone but I think everyone wants to be loved. Love is painful, and hard but it also is the most beautiful strongest entity in the universe! Love is a celebration. Love is Love!”
Inas X prides herself on being a strong, passionate, “boss babe,” and hopes to create of “movement of love” through her music. “Love Is” marks the first single from Inas’ debut EP set for a 2016 release.
Inas has tons of show dates coming up – check her official website at www.InasX.com