Tag: same-sex marriage

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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.”

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Slovenia Rejects Marriage Equality

According to early results released Sunday by authorities, it appears 63% of Slovenians voted against legalizing same-sex marriage, while 37% were in favor.

The country’s Parliament passed marriage equality in March, but conservative groups, with support by the Catholic Church, demanded a country-wide referendum.

(h/t JMG)

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Sen. Marco Rubio Would Repeal Marriage Equality Through SCOTUS Appointments

Sitting down for a lengthy interview with NBC News’ Chuck Todd, Republican White House hopeful doubled down on his opposition to marriage equality, and said  – if he were to become president – he would overturn the Obergefell decision via stacking the Supreme Court with same-sex marriage foes.

Quotes via Towleroad:

“I disagree with it on constitutional grounds. As I have said–I think it’s bad law. And for the following reason. If you want to change the definition of marriage, then you need to go to state legislatures and get them to change it. Because states have always defined marriage. And that’s why some people get married in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator. And in Florida, you have to wait a couple days when you get your permit. Every state has different marriage laws. But I do not believe that the court system was the right way to do it.”

[snip]

“As I’ve said, that would be conceding that the current Constitution is somehow wrong and needs to be fixed. I don’t think the current Constitution gives the federal government the power to regulate marriage. That belongs at the state and local level. And that’s why if you want to change the definition of marriage, which is what this argument is about….It’s not about discrimination. It is about the definition of a very specific, traditional, and age-old institution. That definitional change, if you want to change it, you have a right to petition your state legislature and your elected representatives to do it. What is wrong is that the Supreme Court has found this hidden constitutional right that 200 years of jurisprudence had not discovered and basically overturn the will of voters in Florida where over 60 percent passed a constitutional amendment that defined marriage in the state constitution as the union of one man and one woman.”

[snip]

“It is the current law. I don’t believe any case law is settled law. Any future Supreme Court can change it. And ultimately, I will appoint Supreme Court justices that will interpret the Constitution as originally constructed.”

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Same-Sex Marriages Begin In Ireland

The first same-sex marriages have taken place in Ireland yesterday after the Marriage Law 2015 came into law.

Dublin-based couple Richard Dowling and Cormac Gollogly became the first same-sex couple to tie the knot.

The couple who have been together for 12 years got married in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

Senior Registrar for south Tipperary Mary Claire Heffernan confirmed they were the first same-sex couple to be civilly married in Ireland.

Congratulations Ireland!

(from RTE)

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News Round-Up: November 16, 2015

Uzo Aduba as “Glinda The Good Witch” in The Wiz Live! (Photo: Scott Gilmore)

Some news stories you may have missed:

• Get your first look at the stars of The Wiz Live!

• Hacker group Anonymous declares war on ISIS following the terrorist attacks on Paris.

• 1,500 Mormons officially leave LDS Church after announcement of new policy that children of same-sex couples cannot be members of the faith until they reach the age of 18, leave their parents home and disavow the practice of same-sex relationships,

• Ireland’s marriage equality law takes effect today. Marriages begin tomorrow after the normal mandatory 24 hour waiting period.

• Pastor Steven Anderson spent Sunday sermonizing that when you go to a rock concert in Paris – “somebody might get killed,” because you’re “worshipping death.”

• 19 states say they will not accept Syrian refugees following Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

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News Round-Up: November 13, 2015

Some news stories you may have missed:

• Would you date someone who looked like your twin? A lot of people do.

• Jessa Duggar – sister of Josh Duggar – has shared with the world her first of what will undoubtedly be dozens of babies. And the child’s name? Spurgeon. Yes, that’s right – Spurgeon.

• According to Gallup polling, there are now approximately 486,000 same-sex marriages in the U.S., compared with approximately 390,000 four months ago.

• The Pentagon says it is reasonably certain that “Jihadi John” – who took part in the video executions on behalf of ISIS – was probably killed in a drone strike last night in Syria.

• If you hit it and won $15 million in the lottery, would you share with your homophobic parents who shunned you as a teen because you were gay?

• Congrats to Randy Report fave singer/songwriter Justin Utley on his very romantical proposal to bf Craig Neilson via flash mob in front of Lincoln Center. (p.s. Craig said “yes”).

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This is what true love looks like …. So humbled & blessed to be apart of this #justinlovescraig
Posted by Elizabeth Flynn on Saturday, November 7, 2015

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Utah: Judges Takes Foster Child From Married Lesbian Couple Because They Are Gay

April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce of Carbon County, Utah, were stunned when Judge Scott Johansen ordered they surrender the one year old foster child placed in their care.

The judge said he felt the child would be better off with a heterosexual couple based on “research” he had done. When asked for the source of that research, he refused.

Via the Advocate:

The couple, who legally wed in October 2014, have taken care of the one-year-old girl for three months and her birth mother has asked them to adopt the child. The Utah Division of Child and Family Services has been forced to find new housing for the child, but officials say they will appeal the judge’s decision.

“We love her and she loves us, and we haven’t done anything wrong,” Peirce told The Salt Lake Tribune. “And the law, as I understand it, reads that any legally married couple can foster and adopt.”

Attorneys for DCFS are currently reviewing the decision. “If we feel like [Johansen’s] decision is not best for the child,” DCFS director Brent Platt said, “and we have a recourse to appeal or change it, we’re going to do that. For us, it’s what’s best for the child.”

“Any loving couple if they are legally married, and meet the requirements, we want them to be involved,” he said.

The child’s state-appointed attorney supports the couple. The birth mother’s lawyer, who was in court with the couple when the decision was handed down, has said the mother is upset and wants her baby to stay with the couple.

The Human Rights Campaign issued this statement:

“Removing a child from a loving home simply because the parents are LGBT is outrageous, shocking, and unjust. It also flies in the face of overwhelming evidence that children being raised by same-sex parents are just as healthy and well-adjusted as those with different-sex parents. At a time when so many children in foster care need loving homes, it is sickening to think that a child would be taken from caring parents who planned to adopt.”

Democratic White House front-runner tweeted her support for the couple:

Watch the local CBS affiliate’s report below.

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Sweet Video From MassMutual Featuring Married Gay Couples

MassMutual, one of the sponsors of  tonight’s OUT100 event in New York City, shares this touching video featuring married gay and lesbians couples.

The event tonight will honor Evan Wolfson of Freedom To Marry with who is widely credited with much of the water-carrying for same-sex marriage’s passage at SCOTUS and across the country.

(h/t JMG)

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The Advocate Names SCOTUS “People Of The Year” For Historic Marriage Ruling

The Advocate has named the United States Supreme Court Justices “People of the Year” for their historic ruling this past June which brought marriage equality to the entire country:

At 10:02 a.m. Eastern on June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court changed America forever.

In handing down its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges — declaring marriage to be a constitutionally protected right for same-sex couples — the court immediately made the lives of millions better. That doesn’t happen often: Most progress in a obstreperous country like the United States happens incrementally. But with Obergefell, the Supreme Court wiped out dozens of discriminatory measures, scrubbing away decades of antigay prejudice. Suddenly, anti-LGBT states had no excuse to degrade same-sex couples, no legal rationale to deny them marriage licenses. The worldwide push for marriage equality was given an inestimable boost, as marriage equality rights advocates in countries like Australia looked to the Supreme Court for inspiration. And here in America, in an instant, gays and lesbians made an enormous step toward becoming equal citizens under the law.

[snip]

In the days following Obergefell, Kennedy was lionized as a gay rights luminary. He is — but it was really the court itself that was the hero of the moment. Without its independence, its position as the ultimate arbiter of the law, gays and lesbians in America would still be denied access to the fundamental institution of marriage. Supreme Court decision-making involves a certain kind of sorcery which transforms an individual voice into binding legal precedent. The power of that voice lends each ruling legitimacy, and the prestige of the institution makes each ruling enforceable. It may have been Kennedy who wrote that the Constitution grants gay couples “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.” But it is the Supreme Court of the United States that made that judgment a constitutional command.