10th Circuit denies #Kansas request for initial en banc hearing in marriage case appeal: http://t.co/VQGyOjpxxJ @KansasEquality @aclukansas— Equality Case Files (@EQCF) December 2, 2014
Harvard Law School Scholar Wouldn’t Be Surprised By 6-3 Same-Sex Marriage Ruling By SCOTUS
Harvard Law School’s Laurence Tribe says he wouldn’t be surprised to see a 6-3 ruling on same-sex marriage at SCOTUS during an interview with Mark Halperin and John Heilemann on “With All Due Respect.”
Marriage News Watch – December 1, 2014
From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:
• Closer than ever to the start of marriage in Arkansas and Mississippi.
• Florida is refusing to issue drivers’ licenses to a couple after they married and changed their last name.
• Support for marriage has skyrocketed in Wyoming.
Slovakia To Hold National Referendum On Same-Sex Marriage
Earlier this year in June, Slovakia passed a anti-gay constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by a vote of 102-18.
Now, it appears the country’s lawmakers aren’t done making their LGBT citizens second class. Now, the legislators plan a national voter referendum on marriage equality and more on February 7, 2015.
Via the AP:
President Andrej Kiska’s move comes after the Alliance for Family conservative group gathered about 400,000 signatures supporting the vote.
Slovaks will be asked whether they agree that a marriage can be called only a union between a man and a woman, same-sex partners can’t adopt children, and that children wouldn’t have to attend school classes on sex education if their parents don’t agree with them.
Slovakia’s constitutional court ruled last month at Kiska’s request that such a referendum doesn’t violate the constitution, but rejected a question on registered partnership as part of the vote. Kiska said he still has doubts about the referendum, but respected the ruling.
Slovakia, a young country of only 21 years, has held seven similar voter referenda. For passage, more than 50% of the nations voter have to cast a vote. In 21 years, it has only happened once – when the country voted to join the European Union. The others failed to become legal due to low voter turnout.
So, it’s possible this anti-gay move may be more anti-LGBT political theater than reality.
We shall see come February.
Finland’s Lawmakers Approve Same-Sex Marriage
By a vote of 105-93, Finland’s Parliament approved same-sex marriage – the last country in the Nordic region to do so.
Since 2002 gay and lesbian couples have been able to enter into civil partnerships, but those legal unions had limits. With marriage, same-sex couples will also be able to adopt children and share the same surname.
Finland becomes the 12th European country to adopt marriage equality.
Due to changes in other legislation, the new law will not take effect until 2016.
Congratulations Finland!
Arkansas Anti-Gay Leader Super Mad Over The “Tyranny” Of Equal Rights For Gays
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| Jerry Cox |
The head of the anti-gay Arkansas Family Council, Jerry Cox, is super-mad about yesterday’s ruling by a federal judge which struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Via press release:
“This is another example of judicial tyranny.
“Arkansans voted overwhelmingly to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Their elected officials voted for that definition when they passed Arkansas’ Defense of Marriage Act.
“By issuing this ruling, one federal judge is saying seventy-five percent of Arkansas voters and lawmakers do not matter. If that isn’t tyranny, I don’t know what is.
“What Judge Baker effectively did was erase Arkansas’ definition of marriage. It opens the door for marriage to become anything. We have already seen polygamists in Utah and elsewhere try to ride the coat tails of same-sex marriage activists in court. Rulings like this one only fuel those efforts.
“If Americans are not free to decide how they will define something as basic as marriage, then what are they free to decide?”
I love the line – “If that isn’t tyranny, I don’t know what is.”
Seriously? Letting people who love each other marry is YOUR definition of “tyranny?”
Pal, you need to get out in the world more. There’s lots worse than equal rights for everyone.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Mississippi’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Mississippi sees it’s ban on marriage equality struck down! Happy Dance Time!
U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves issued his ruling less than a month after he heard oral arguments in the case the Campaign for Southern Equality last month filed on behalf of two lesbian couples seeking marriage rights in the Magnolia State.
“The court concludes that Mississippi’s same-sex marriage ban deprives same-sex couples and their children of equal dignity under the law,” writes Reeves. “Gay and lesbian citizens cannot be subjected to such second-class citizenship.”
Mississippi’s ban was passed by the biggest margin of any state amendment with 86 percent supporting the measure. But, as Judge Reeves points out, “The courts do not wait out the political process when constitutional rights are being violated, especially when the political process caused the constitutional violations in the first place.”
Roberta Kaplan, who successfully argued against the Defense of Marriage Act before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013, is the lead counsel in the case and issued this statement:
“This is a big day since it means that gay Mississippians will have the right to be married in their own home state that they love so much. It is also a big day for our country and for our Constitution, since it means that Americans in yet another state can now appreciate that gay people, who are their neighbors, friends and family members, have the right to equal protection of the laws.”
The ruling is stayed for two weeks pending appeal.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Arkansas’ Ban On Same-Sex Marriage
A federal judge has struck down Arkansas’ gay marriage ban, which could pave the way for county clerks to eventually resume issuing licenses.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker ruled Tuesday in favor of a pair of same-sex couples who had challenged the 2004 constitutional amendment and an earlier state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
But Baker put her ruling on hold, and the state is expected to appeal it to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling comes as the state Supreme Court is weighing a separate case, which stems from May, when a Pulaski County judge struck down the ban.
More than 500 same-sex couples married before the ruling was stayed. The justices have not indicated when they will rule.
Read the full ruling below.
Marriage News Watch – November 24, 2014
From the American Foundation For Equal Rights:
• Picked up three states with marriage this week. But in one of those states, some clerks are refusing to issue licenses.
• Alabama’s attorneys are using a discredited anti-gay researcher to build a case for banning marriage.
• And more bad news for what’s left of the National Organization for Marriage.
North Carolina: Some Magistrates Quit Rather Than Perform Same-Sex Weddings
With the arrival of marriage equality in North Carolina, some magistrates have quit their jobs rather than perform same-sex marriages:
Time Warner Cable News has been able to determine at least 10 of the 16 magistrates who left last month, did so because they will not perform same-sex marriages.
For a little perspective, the court system reports there are 672 magistrates across the state, so only about 1.5 percent have left because of the same-sex marriage ruling.
One former magistrate was quoted as saying “There were no offers to make any accommodations.” An accommodation to discriminate???
In my opinion, good riddance. As a public servant, you don’t get to pick and choose when or why you do your job.
There are still over 660 magistrates to perform their duties in the state in accordance to state law.