Tag: same-sex marriage

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Kentucky Count Clerk Kim Davis On Same-Sex Marriage: I Can’t Authorize What I Don’t Agree With

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis of Kentucky stopped issuing all marriage licenses June 27, one day after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages nationwide.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued her on behalf of two gay couples and two straight couples.

Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear instructed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately. At least two clerks refused. Clerks are elected officials. They cannot be removed from office unless impeached by the state legislature. Impeachment appears unlikely, given the political climate in the state capital.

Kentucky law requires the county clerk to issue marriage licenses, or the local judge executive if the clerk is absent or the office is vacant.

The wording on the license says the couple is “hereby authorized” to get married.

“If … I authorize that I’m saying I agree with it, and I can’t,” Davis said Monday in a sometimes tearful testimony before a packed courtroom.

Davis would like the governor to call a special session of the state legislature (at at cost of $60,000 a day) with the intent of passing new laws allowing county clerks to refuse same-sex couples service based on religious beliefs.

In Kentucky, it’s a Class A misdemeanor — first-degree official misconduct — for elected officials to refuse to perform the duties of their office.

Davis was vague when asked what she plans to do should the judge order her to issue marriage licenses.

“I’ll deal with that when the time comes,” she said.

It has been reported that Davis has been married four times herself.

(via LGBTQ Nation)

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Taiwan Government To Introduce Same-Sex Marriage Legislation

Could Taiwan become the first region in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage?

From The Global Times:

Following the US Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage in June, judicial authorities in Taiwan announced recently that they decided to draft a same-sex partnership law consistent with the global trend and changing public opinion.

They said when polls show that the region’s population is ready, a gay marriage law will be drafted.

Lo Ying-hsueh, head of Taiwan’s judicial body, said the government will put related bills on an online voting platform with the result to serve as a reference for the legislature, the Taiwan-based United Daily News reported Sunday.

A poll conducted by judicial authorities in 2013 shows that more than 53 percent support same-sex marriage.

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Marriage Equality Arrives In Puerto Rico

Marriage equality arrives in Puerto Rico today, becoming the second U.S. territory (following Guam) to allow same-sex marriage.

The next U.S. territories to see marriage equality (there are five) will be the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Dragging in last, the Attorney General of American Samoa has said the U.S. territory is “reviewing the opinion and its potential applicability to American Samoa.”

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Missouri County Commissioners Approve (And Now Will Rescind) Proposal Lowering Flags Over Same-Sex Marriage

In response to the historic ruling by SCOTUS in favor of same-sex marriage, the three member panel of commissioners in Dent County, Missouri, voted to lower U.S. and state flags at the county court house on the 26th of every month for the next year as a sign of “mourning.”

Authored by Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles, the proposal was unanimously approved by the panel, all three Republicans.

From Buzzfeed:

“I just want anybody who sees that to be reminded we find it revolting that the Supreme Court has ruled in this manner,” Dent County Commissioner Darrell Skiles, who sponsored the proposal, told BuzzFeed News on Monday. “I had this feeling like when someone near and dear has passed away — not the same, but similar.”

Under the proposal, the flags are to be lowered on the 26th of each month through June 2016 — marking the date of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling, which the bill describes as one of “the saddest days in our history.”

But by the next morning, several media outlets had reported on the commission’s order and an online petition asking officials to reverse the decision had gathered more than 1,000 signatures.

On Tuesday, Skiles told the Salem News that the commission would hold a special session this week to rescind the order “out of respect for veterans and those currently serving in the military.”

“This political showcase is hurtful personally to several residents of Dent County and the surrounding area, which seems counter-intuitive to Jesus Christ’s message of ‘love thy neighbor’ for those of the Christian faith, of which most, if not all, of the commissioners prescribe,” the petition said.

Asked if displaying such a symbol in the same place that same-sex couples must obtain their marriage licenses sent a message, Skiles told BuzzFeed News: “That’s for every couple to decide.”

Members of the military opposed the commission’s proposal because it violates flag protocol.

According to the U.S. Flag Code, American flags can only be lowered to half-staff to honor veterans or fallen soldiers, to memorialize government leaders, to observe designated holidays or when ordered by the governor or the president.

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Scott Walker Openly Constitutional Ban On Marriage Equality

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

Now here’s a winning formula to become the next president of the United States: oppose an idea that currently enjoys the support of 60% of Americans.

GOP presidential hopeful Scott Walker said this today about marriage equality – considered settled law by the U.S. Supreme Court:

“Our conservative values were handed a big blow with the recent Supreme Court ruling. Let me be very clear: this decision was a grave mistake. Five unelected judges took it upon themselves to take that responsibility away from the states and redefine the institution of marriage.

“In 2006, I voted to amend my state constitution to protect the institution of marriage because I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. I believe that the states have the right to define marriage.

“To protect this right, I support an amendment to the United States Constitution to reaffirm the ability of the states to continue to define marriage.”

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New Book: Matt Baume “Defining Marriage”

Matt Baume, who for years kept LGBTs and their allies up to date on the state of marriage equality with his weekly Marriage News Watch videos, shares the good news that he has published an e-book titled Defining Marriage.

From the description on Amazon:

Defining Marriage traces the decades-long evolution of marriage through the personal stories of those who lived through it. Writer Matt Baume provides an intimate glimpse into the private lives of those who dreamed of marriage in the 1970s, the survivors of the 1980s, the audacious pioneers of the 1990s, the tireless soldiers of the 2000s, and the champions who won marriage today.

Along the way, he explores the individual stories of the people who participated in this revolution, examines what marriage has become, and shows with vivid, compelling personal narratives how the act of defining marriage forever changed the lives and loves of the people who fought to define the institution. As the journey to equality unfolds over the years, Baume finds himself unexpectedly evaluating his own self-contradictory life as a marriage activist with no plans to marry his longtime partner.

From decades past to this moment in history, from halls of power to private bedrooms, from the political to the personal, Defining Marriage is the story of how people from all walks of life fought to change marriage — and how fighting for marriage, in turn, changed them.

You can download the book right now from Amazon, and Baume is making the tome free for this first week of availability.

Click here for more info at Amazon.

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Henry Rollins On SCOTUS Ruling On Same-Sex Marriage

Henry Rollins gets down to the honest truth about folks reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage.

Writing for LA Weekly, he offers this clarity:

There were no losers, in my opinion. To those who disagree with same-sex marriage because it offends their faith, I would say your beliefs are still yours to have. The wisdom, peace and clarity that faith has allowed you to have are still intact. No word of any religious text has been changed or its power reduced. There is a lot of room in America; it allows all to move freely.

All the wedding photographs popping up on the Internet should be enough to convince anyone that this was a great decision. Take Jack Evans and George Harris, for example — together for 54 years, in Texas of all places, finally able to get hitched.

I am looking at them now. The skies have not darkened with locusts and tomorrow there will be traffic. I do believe we will be OK.

Hit this link to read the full essay. Rollins continues to open eyes, minds, and hopefully, some hearts.

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California: Stockton Police Lieutenant Pens Anti-Gay Marriage Letter

Stockton Police Lt. Toby Will

A Stockton police lieutenant’s 282 word letter to the editor of the Stockton Record contains not only strong anti-homosexual language, but upon his insistence his title and rank with the police department.

The letter is causing controversy in the California city.

Lt.Toby Will, a former Marine and 25-year veteran of the Stockton Police Department, wrote a 282-word letter to the editor of the Stockton Record which was published in Wednesday’s edition under the heading “Marriage ruling shuns God.”

The letter claims those who live according to “vile and sinful passions” will be met with the wrath of God. “…when the highest office in the land publicly declares the legitimizing of homosexuality to be a great victory for the nation, you can be sure that God is giving that nation over to its own destruction,” Will wrote.

Stockton Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, chair of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender caucus, said she was shocked when she read the editorial page Wednesday morning.

“I choked on my coffee,” she said in her Capitol office. Eggman, who is in a same-sex marriage, believes the now-public views of a high-ranking police official could bring fear to Stockton’s gay community.

“When you need to call 911, you should feel safe that the person who responds is there to support you no matter who you are,” Eggman said

I believe in freedom of speech/expression, so the act of writing the letter is what it is. I don’t know what the Stockton Police Department’s policy is, though, on public statements specifically using your title and rank. We shall see.