Tag: same-sex marriage

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Episcopal Church Votes To Approve Religious Same-Sex Marriages

Just days after the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, leaders of the U.S. Episcopal Church voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to allow clergy to wed same-sex couples.

The decision once again puts the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion at the forefront of mainstream Christian acceptance of gays and lesbians.

Presented at the church’s triennial General Assembly on Wednesday, the resolution strikes the words “man and woman” from a marriage canon and replaces them with gender-neutral language.

Clergy, however, will not be compelled to perform same-sex marriages under the resolution. A clause in the revised canon states it “shall be within the discretion of any member of the clergy of this church to decline to solemnize or bless any marriage.”

The vote on Wednesday represents the latest move by the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, which claims roughly 2 million members, to embrace the LGBT community.

(from Buzzfeed)

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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Runs Out Of Excuses To Block Same-Sex Marriage

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has dragged his feet using every tiny possible excuse to avoid allowing the rulings of SCOTUS and the Fifth Circuit Court on marriage equality.

The latest excuse last night was that the state would not recognize same-sex marriages until the original ruling by the district court was rescinded.

The Fifth Circuit set a deadline of July 17th to act, BUT the district court moved on it.

From the ruling:

IT IS ORDERED that this Court’s Order and Reasons and the accompanying Judgment dated September 3, 2014, are hereby recalled and rescinded; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Article XII, Section 15 of the Louisiana Constitution, Article 89 of the Louisiana Civil Code, and laws enacted pursuant thereto, violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and may not be enforced against the Plaintiffs or any other same-sex couple; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Article XII, Section 15 of the Louisiana Constitution, Article 3520(B) of the Louisiana Civil Code, and laws enacted pursuant thereto, violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and may not be enforced against the Plaintiffs or any other same-sex couple.

New Orleans Advocate says that as of Noon today all Louisiana Parishes are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

And – DONE.

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Half Of Texas Counties Still Not Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

Click over to the Dallas Morning News which has an interactive map showing which counties are and are not issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Of those not issuing licenses yet, only two specifically cite “religious objections (Lipscomb and Kimball). The majority of others say they are waiting for “Official advice or forms” or a “software update.”

Get with it Texas. You can drag your feet for a while just to be stubborn, but marriage equality is here.

Forward.

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White House Rainbow Lights Were Planned For Months

Politico reports that the fantastic rainbow lights on the White House in celebration of the historic SCOTUS ruling on marriage equality was an idea months in planning.

SPOTTED, at 4 a.m. Sat. at the White House: Jeff Tiller, 32, the White House director of specialty media (includes LGBT outreach) and former press-advance marvel, who had the inspired idea of bathing the North Portico (“The President’s Front Door”) in rainbow lighting.

The crowds were gone, sunrise was coming, and the lighting contractors who had installed the rainbow were long asleep. After spending the night at the White House in a lawn chair, Jeff climbed downstairs to the tradesman entrance to unplug the lights that he had conceived of months earlier.

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Sen Ted Cruz Says SCOTUS Marriage Ruling Only Affects Four States

Sen. Ted Cruz erroneously says the recently SCOTUS ruling on marriage only applies to four states.

From Politico:

“Those who are not parties to the suit are not bound by it,” the Texas Republican told NPR News’ Steve Inskeep in an interview published on Monday.

Since only suits against the states of Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky were specifically considered in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which was handed down last Friday, Cruz — a former Supreme Court clerk — believes that other states with gay marriage bans need not comply, absent a judicial order.

“On a great many issues, others have largely acquiesced, even if they were not parties to the case,” the 2016 presidential contender added, “but there’s no legal obligation to acquiesce to anything other than a court judgement.”

While Cruz’s statement may be technically true, federal district and circuit courts are obligated to follow the Supreme Court’s precedent and overrule all other states’ same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional.

Clearly Ted Cruz has no firm grasp of legal precedent.

While the decision on same-sex marriage addressed four states, that ruling becomes controlling precedent for all other courts to follow on the issue from here on forward.

If Cruz wants to force gay and lesbian couples to go through the time and expense to file lawsuits which WILL end up with a judgement in favor of same-sex marriage, he can I guess. But the result will be the same whether states go through the lawsuits or not. At the end of the day, any judge will have to cite the SCOTUS ruling and marriage equality will prevail.

Period.

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Veterans Administration Confirms Benefits For Same-Sex Married Couples

Dalan Wells and Sgt. Brandon Morgan

From the Washington Blade:

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage across the country, the Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday confirmed it’s set to issue spousal benefits to gay, lesbian and bisexual veterans regardless of their state of residence.

Walinda West, a VA spokesperson, told the Washington Blade the ruling striking down all state bans on same-sex marriage allows the department to “recognize the same-sex marriage of all veterans” anywhere in the United States.

“VA will work quickly to ensure that all offices and employees are provided guidance on implementing this important decision with respect to all programs, statutes, and regulations administered by VA,” West said.

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26 Million Facebook Folks Turned Rainbow Celebrating Marriage Equality

Out Magazine is reporting that over 26 million Facebookers used the company’s filter to change their profile pictures to the LGBT pride rainbow in celebrating Pride Month and the historic SCOTUS ruling on same-sex marriage.

Celebrities, athletes, gay, straight, transgender…. across many spectrums folks made Facebook a veritable rainbow this weekend.

Did you change your pic?