Tag: same-sex marriage

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Unanimous Ruling By Mexican Supreme Court Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage In State of Jalisco

From JoeMyGod:

In a unanimous 11-0 ruling, today the Mexican Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in the state of Jalisco, home to the popular gay resort Puerto Vallarta, and Guadalajara, the nation’s second largest city.

Same-sex marriage is legal and recognized in all of Mexico’s 31 states, but Jalisco becomes only the sixth state to allow same-sex marriages without a complex legal petitioning process that can take up to one month and cost $1000.

Jalisco today joins the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guerrero, Nayarit and Quintana Roo, the federal district of Mexico City, and the city of Santiago de Querétaro, capital of Querétaro state, in allowing marriages to take place free of the above-described nonsense. For more on Mexico’s complicated marriage journey, read Rex Wockner’s excellent status report.

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Kentucky To Pay Over $1.1 Million In Legal Fees To Same-Sex Marriage Attorneys

The state of Kentucky has been ordered by the federal Western District Court of Kentucky to pay $1,115,632.96 in attorney fees and costs to the lawyers who fought for marriage equality in the state.

The losing side of a court battle often has to pay the winning side’s legal fees. And as we know, the good guys won this one.

Lots of states avoided this by seeing the writing on the wall and dropping opposition to same-sex marriage.

Kentucky did not have the good sense to do that.

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Hillary Clinton To Judge Roy Moore: “Marriage Equality Is Now The Law Of The Land – Including In Alabama”

Hillary Clinton was quick to issue this statement regarding anti-gay Alabama state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who instructed probate judges in his state to cease issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

“Marriage equality is now the law of the land — including in Alabama. Today’s unconstitutional order reminds us that, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that all Americans have the right to marry the person they love, our work is far from over. There are still judges who are determined to stand in the way of people’s rights. There are still politicians who argue the Court got it wrong and states should ignore its ruling.

“We need to ensure that marriage equality is guaranteed and enforced nationwide. And we need to fight discrimination against LGBT Americans wherever it occurs. There are places where you can get married on Sunday and are at risk of being fired from your job or evicted from your home on Monday because you’re gay. That’s not how it should be in the United States of America.

“As President, I’ll fight for the equal rights of all Americans, no matter who they are or who they love.”

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Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Slaps Down Anti-Gay Brian Brown Over Marriage Equality & SCOTUS

In an effort to find some semblance of relevance in today’s world of marriage equality, virulently anti-gay Brian Brown (of the ironically-named National Organization for Marriage) made an appearance on Fox News last night to talk on Alabama state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore’s feckless attempt to stop same-sex marriages in his state.

Of course, as we all know, last June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was a right in this country, and thus making it possible for gay and lesbian couples everywhere in America to wed.

Grasping at straws, Brown tried to make an (illogical) legal case for Moore’s impertinence. The results – and response from experienced lawyer Megyn Kelly – were not exactly what Brown was hoping for.

From Mediaite:

Brown’s opening gambit was the fine legal thinking of Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee (imagine that wedding), which holds that Supreme Court rulings are more, like, guidelines. Kelly lost it a little when Brown said officials shouldn’t “kowtow” to the court (which might be NOM-speak for some kind of man-dairy animal union), then patiently tried to explain the legal concept codified in Marbury vs Madison.

That’s when Brown really stepped in it, telling attorney Megyn Kelly “I think you are misreading Marbury vs Madison.” If Megyn Kelly ever decides to return to practicing law, her new strategy should be to just make faces during opposing counsel’s argument. She’d win every case.

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Hillary Clinton To Alabama’s Anti-Gay Roy Moore: “Marriage Equality Is The Law Of The Land”

From Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton via press release:

“Marriage equality is now the law of the land — including in Alabama. Today’s unconstitutional order reminds us that, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that all Americans have the right to marry the person they love, our work is far from over.

“There are still judges who are determined to stand in the way of people’s rights. There are still politicians who argue the Court got it wrong and states should ignore its ruling.

“We need to ensure that marriage equality is guaranteed and enforced nationwide. And we need to fight discrimination against LGBT Americans wherever it occurs.

“There are places where you can get married on Sunday and are at risk of being fired from your job or evicted from your home on Monday because you’re gay.

“That’s not how it should be in the United States of America. As President, I’ll fight for the equal rights of all Americans, no matter who they are or who they love.”

That’s my next president.

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State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore Attempts To Halt Marriage Equality In Alabama

Virulently anti-gay Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order today saying that, although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage was a constitutional right last June, probate judges in Alabama are to stop issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples.

Moore asserts that his state Supreme Court’s ruling from March of 2015 is still in effect upholding the state’s ban on marriage equality.

(Wrong.)

From AL.com:

Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order today saying that a ruling issued last March by the Alabama Supreme Court remains in effect and that probate judges “have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary” to Alabama’s law and constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

In a four-page administrative order, Moore said the conflict between the state court ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June has caused “confusion and uncertainty” among probate judges.

Moore said he issued the order today in his role as administrative head of the state court system. He quoted a state law that says the chief justice is empowered to “take affirmative and appropriate action to correct or alleviate any condition or situation adversely affecting the administration of justice within the state.”

Moore’s order drew forceful criticism.

Scott McCoy, senior staff attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, issued a statement calling Moore’s order a “dead letter.”

“In no way does his administrative order supersede Judge Granade’s federal injunction prohibiting probate judges from enforcing discriminatory Alabama marriage laws.

“If probate judges violate the injunction, they can be held in contempt. This is Moore yet again confusing his role as chief justice with his personal anti-LGBT agenda.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State called Moore’s order a “pathetic gesture that is doomed to fail.”

“I have a news flash for Roy Moore: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld marriage equality in June and the decision extends nationwide,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “All Alabama probate judges remain bound by a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.”

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Christmas Day Marriage Proposal Backstage At Broadway’s WICKED

So sweet. I love when flying monkeys really “get” each other.

After the Christmas Day performance of WICKED on Broadway, two of the show’s flying monkeys got engagned.

Daniel Robinson proposed to fellow flying monkey, Joshua Green on stage and in costume at the Gershwin Theatre.

With the cast posed for a holiday photo after the curtain went down, Robinson pulled Green in front of everyone to ask for his hand in marriage.

Very sweet moment. And did I mention they’re easy on the eyes?

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Video: Gorgeous Surprise Wedding For Same-Sex Couple In Hawaii

Check out this really fab surprise wedding in Hawaii. One of the grooms serves in the Air Force and the other just completed his enlistment in the Marine Corps.

Wedding are SO emotional 🙂

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau — the private, nonprofit marketing organization for the tourism industry — released an emotional video on Monday featuring the surprise wedding of Christian Alarid and Shayne Barnes, an Oahu couple whose family and friends traveled to Honolulu to see the two men tie the knot. The video and teasers for it quickly went viral, with more than 6.5 million total views on social media by Tuesday afternoon.

Now known as the Alarids, the two had gotten engaged last June. They had been planning a 2016 wedding and had agreed to be models in an HVCB wedding photo shoot last August on the Big Island, after which HVCB staffers had a brainstorm. What if the bureau surprised the couple by organizing a picture-perfect surprise ceremony in Honolulu?

(h/t JMG)

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Kentucky On The Hook For Huge Legal Bill In Marriage Equality Fight

Newly-installed (and virulently anti-gay) Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is now tasked with having to pay the winning lawyers in the state’s unsuccessful marriage equality case.

And under federal law, the governor has no choice but to pay them. To ensure “effective access to the judicial process” for “persons with civil rights grievances,” the losing side must pay the winner’s legal fees in an amount the courts decide is reasonable.

In Ohio and Michigan, for example, whose gay marriage bans were struck down with Kentucky’s, the Republican governors in those two states settled with the winning lawyers, for $1.3 million and $1.9 million, respectively.

The winning legal team is seeking $2,091,297. I would look for the amount to be somewhere in the 60-65% range.

I’d love it if someone could tell us how much it cost states to fight marriage equality all the way to the  U. S. Supreme Court.

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New Kentucky Governor Issues Executive Order Removing County Clerks Names From Marriage Licenses

Newly elected Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky has issued an executive order removing the requirement for county clerks names on marriage licenses.

For months County clerk Kim Davis asked that the governor’s office make such a change so she would not be, at least in her eyes, a “party” to a same-sex marriage.

Outgoing Gov. Beshear insisted his office did not have the authority to change state law. It appears some legal minds still agree with Beshear.

Bevin’s order on marriage licenses directs the state Department of Libraries and Archives to change the wording on forms so that the names of county clerks are not required to appear. The issue gained national attention after Davis, Rowan County’s clerk, refused to sign off the forms, citing her Apostolic Christian beliefs and objections to same-sex marriage.

Beshear argued for months that state statute determined the wording on marriage licenses and that he could not remove clerks’ names. However, Bevin’s press release states that the change is needed to “ensure that the sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians are honored.”

William Sharp, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, released a statement saying that Bevin’s action has created a cloud of uncertainty over marriage licenses in the state.

“The requirement that the county clerk’s name appear on marriage licenses is prescribed by Kentucky law and is not subject to unilateral change by the governor – conceded by the previous administration in court filings,” he said. “Today, however, a new administration claims to have that authority.”