Tag: same-sex marriage

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Mexico: First Same-Sex Wedding In Baja California

With cheers of “yes we could, yes we could” filling the air, Mexicali residents Victor Fernando Urias Amparo, 37, and Victor Manuel Aguirre Espinoza, 43, were finally able to exchange their wedding vows before an enthusiastic crowd of media and supporters outside Mexicali City Hall.

Three times before the couple had tried to marry at city hall after a court order from Mexico’s Supreme Court cleared the way last June. But time after time, bureaucratic blockades were placed in their way. The last attempt was halted after a volunteer leveled the accusation that the men “suffer from madness.”

The result was a social media campaign with the hashtag #MisDerechosNoSonLocura, or “my rights are not madness.”

However, it seem the fourth time is the charm sometimes.

On Saturday, the crowd of protesters began to gather about 9:30 a.m. at the government complex, and many in the crowd of about 500 snapped up T-shirts being sold for 50 pesos each that included the Twitter hashtag and a picture of two grooms.

The crowd marched around the plaza with a giant rainbow flag and listened to speeches.

At one point, the couple, their lawyer and a swarm of media went into City Hall. The couple and their lawyer met behind closed doors in the civil registry office, then went upstairs into the mayor’s office.

They emerged with smiles about 30 minutes later and announced the marriage was on.

The ceremony was performed under a canopy in front of City Hall, with the grooms seated on one side of a table and a gaggle of cameras surrounding them.

Their vows complete, the husbands exchanged kisses, and a bottle of Champagne was popped to cheers and applause.

Video via Rex Wockner:

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Lambda Legal Answer The Question: What If Marriage Equality Loses At SCOTUS?

LGBT advocates and legal experts seem cautiously optimistic that SCOTUS will rule in favor of marriage equality this June.

BUT – folks want to know, what if they don’t?

Jon Davidson, legal director for Lambda Legal, spells it out via email:

“If the Supreme Court were to rule in the cases in which it today granted review that the U.S. Constitution does not protect same-sex couples’ right to marry and does not require states to respect marriages same-sex couples lawfully have entered in other jurisdictions, a number of issues would arise.

“With respect to same-sex couples who already have married as a result of court rulings, Lambda Legal strongly believes — as a federal district court in Michigan ruled just yesterday with respect to marriages entered in that state before the 6th Circuit’s adverse ruling — that those marriages will remain valid and will need to continue to be respected by the states in which those marriages were entered. Nonetheless, the validity of those couples’ marriages may be challenged and those couples may want to take additional steps (such as executing wills, durable health care powers of attorney, and securing second parent adoptions) to provide them and their families extra peace of mind and security.

“With respect to whether same-sex couples would be able to marry and would have their marriages respected in other states, that would vary from state to state. States in which marriage equality was achieved by a ruling under the state’s constitution, by legislative reform, or at the ballot box, would be unaffected. Unmarried same-sex couples in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee (the states whose marriage laws the Supreme Court today agreed to review) would be forced to seek reform through the political process. States in which a final judgment has been obtained in federal court would be required to continue to allow same-sex couples to marry and to respect out-of-state marriages entered by same-sex couples unless and until someone with standing makes a motion to reopen the judgment and that motion is granted (unless stays are properly obtained before then). In some states, there may be no one with standing interested in seeking to set aside the existing judgment. Same-sex couples in states in which a judgment is on appeal or can still be appealed whose judgments have not been stayed should be able to continue to marry and to have their out-of-state marriages honored by the state until the existing judgment is stayed or reversed.

“There’s no question that it would be a mess. This is one additional reason why the Supreme Court should reverse the 6th Circuit’s aberrant decision and hold that same-sex couples, like all other couples, share the fundamental right to marry and that it violates federal guarantees of equality and liberty to refuse to allow them to marry or to deny recognition to the marriages they lawfully have entered in other states.”

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US Attorney General Issues Statement On SCOTUS Decision To Hear Same-Sex Marriage Cases

Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear four cases on same-sex marriage equality:

“After the Justice Department’s decision not to defend the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, the Supreme Court sent a powerful message that Americans in same-sex marriages are entitled to equal protection and equal treatment under the law. This landmark decision marked a historic step toward equality for all American families.

“The Supreme Court has announced that it will soon hear several cases raising core questions concerning the constitutionality of same-sex marriages. As these cases proceed, the Department of Justice will remain committed to ensuring that the benefits of marriage are available as broadly as possible. And we will keep striving to secure equal treatment for all members of society – regardless of sexual orientation.

“As such, we expect to file a ‘friend of the court’ brief in these cases that will urge the Supreme Court to make marriage equality a reality for all Americans. It is time for our nation to take another critical step forward to ensure the fundamental equality of all Americans – no matter who they are, where the come from, or whom they love.”

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US Supreme Court Will Take Up All Four 6th Circuit Same-Sex Marriage Rulings

SCOTUS has agreed to hear oral arguments from the four states in the 6th Circuit – Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio – on the right of same-sex marriage.

From Buzzfeed:

The two questions granted by the court for argument are: 1) “Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?” and 2) “Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?”

There will be 90 minutes of argument on the marriage question and 60 minutes of argument on the marriage recognition question, per the court’s order.

The review comes from a rulng on November 6, 2014, from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals which saw the first conflict between federal appellate courts having disagreed with 5 previous appeals courts (the 4th Circuit, 7th Circuit, 9th Circuit, and 10th Circuit courts of appeals) on the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

In June of 2013, SCOTUS ruled that the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional, and in doing so struck down the main portion of the law keeping LGBTs from federal recognition of legal marriages.

The cases will be heard in April and by late June we should finally have a decision on the freedom to marry across the US.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in 36 states plus the District of Columbia.

You can read the order below:

all have struck down such bans on various grounds.

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Fox News To Host Marriage Equality Debate Between Ted Olson And Tony Perkins

Tune in this Sunday at 10AM ET.

Via press release:

Both sides in the same-sex marriage debate are looking to the Supreme Court as it decides whether or not to weigh in on the issue. The High Court is set to discuss cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, and decide whether to rule on petitions challenging state bans on same-sex marriage.

We’ll debate what has become a key social issue within the country, exclusively with Ted Olson, former Solicitor General who served as Co-Counsel for the plaintiffs in Virginia’s same-sex marriage case, and Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council.

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Federal Judge Orders Michigan To Recognize 300 Same-Sex Marriages

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that a federal judge has ordered the state of Michigan to recognize 300 same-sex marriages in Michigan today, calling them a “fundamental right.”

“In these circumstances, what the state has joined together, it may not put asunder.,” U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said in his opinion.

U.S. Supreme Court could decide whether to hear MI same-sex marriage case

The 300 couples wed last March after a federal judge struck down the state’s ban on same sex marriage. The state has since refused to recognize them.

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Strong Support For Same-Sex Marriage In Ireland

A new poll by Red C shows support at 76 percent for marriage equality in Ireland ahead of the upcoming referendum on the issue this May.

From The Journal:

It shows that 81% of women and 72% of men polled supported marriage for same-sex couples. People aged 18 – 24 were most likely to support it, with support generally declining as the age of those polled increased.

The news has been welcomed by Ireland’s human rights watchdog, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Its director, Mark Kelly, said that the poll ”is further evidence of the deep repository of goodwill amongst voters in Ireland towards full equality for same sex couples.”

Labour Party TD for Dublin North West and Co-Chair of Labour LGBT, John Lyons, also welcomed the poll.

“Today’s poll builds upon consecutive national polls which show consistent support to afford gay and lesbian couples the right to civil marriage,” he said.

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Jon Stewart Skewers Florida Same-Sex Marriage Haters

Now that same-sex marriage IS the law of the land in Florida, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show skewers those in the Sunshine State who stood in the way of marriage equality.

For example, regarding the county clerks who decided to cancel ALL courthouse weddings rather that be forced to marry same-sex couples, Stewart says this: “Yes we don’t want to cause ‘discriminations’ against county court employees who don’t feel like following the law. These people didn’t choose to be county clerks. They were born that way.”

As always, Stewart is as funny as he is on point. Check it out below:

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Federal Judge Rules South Dakota Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

Freedom To Marry has tweeted that U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier, a Clinton appointee, has ruled South Dakota’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

From the ruling:

“In Loving, the Supreme Court addressed a traditionally accepted definition of marriage that prohibited Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving from marrying.

“Because Virginia’s laws deprived that couple of their fundamental right to marriage, the Court struck down those laws.

“Little distinguishes this case from Loving. Plaintiffs have a fundamental right to marry. South Dakota law deprives them of that right solely because they are same-sex couples and without sufficient justification.”

The order is stayed pending probable appeal to 8th Circuit Court.

Stay tuned as more info becomes available.

Read the ruling below:

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No Word From SCOTUS Today On 6th Circuit Court Marriage Ruling

Today was the first day we might have heard something from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether the justices will take up one or all of the same-sex marriage cases from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

And – we got nothing.

The justices will consider – again – on Friday whether to hear Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and/or Tennessee marriage cases.

The justices did deny Louisiana same-sex couples’ request to skip over the appeals court and take their case directly, but that was rather expected.