Tag: same-sex marriage

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Florida Judge Denies Motion To Lift Stay On Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

From the ACLU via press release:

Today, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle denied a motion filed by the ACLU of Florida asking the court to quickly lift the stay that had been placed on the Court’s decision striking down Florida’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples, and denied a motion by the state to extend the stay until the appeals are resolved.

On October 7, following a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear several other marriage appeals and thereby allowing marriages to go forward in several states, the ACLU of Florida filed a motion urging the District Court to lift the stay that had been put on the August 21st ruling that struck down Florida’s marriage ban in two state cases. One case was brought by the ACLU on behalf of 8 couples, a Fort Myers widow and SAVE, South Florida’s largest LGBT rights organization; the other was brought by Jacksonville attorneys William Sheppard and Sam Jacobson, who concurred with the ACLU motion.

On October 24th, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office filed a motion to keep the stay in place until the appeals are resolved.

Today’s decision denied both motions and stated that the stay will be lifted on January 5, 2015 unless extended by the federal appeals court.

Bolding is mine.

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Missouri Judge Rules State Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison has ruled today that Missouri’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional:

“The Court finds and declares that any same sex couple that satisfies all the requirements for marriage under Missouri law, other than being of different sexes, is legally entitled to a marriage license,” Burlison wrote.

He said that the Missouri Constitution violates the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Burlison’s ruling comes more than four months after four couples were married at St. Louis City Hall, even though there is a 10-year-old constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

There was no stay on the ruling, so marriages are taking place in St. Louis now.

A Kansas City judge ruled last month that same-sex marriages legally performed out-of-state must be recognized in Missouri.

According to Marc Solomon, national campaign director for Freedom to Marry, today’s ruling marks 49 successful challenges to same-sex marriage laws across the country, compared to three losses.

1422-CC09027 Order and Judgment

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Kansas: Federal Judge Strikes Down Same-Sex Marriage Ban

The Washington Blade is reporting that a federal judge has struck down Kansas’s ban on same-sex marriage.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree, an Obama appointee, issued a preliminary injunction against the enforcement on Kansas law prohibiting of marriage rights for same-sex couples. The injunction is warranted, Crabtree writes, because of legal precedent and because state officials defending the law haven’t made a sufficient case they would prevail in court.

“Because Kansas’ constitution and statutes indeed do what Kitchen forbids, the Court concludes that Kansas’ same-sex marriage ban violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution,” Crabtree writes. “Accordingly, the Court grants plaintiffs’ request for preliminary relief and enters the injunction described at the end of this Order.”

A temporary stay was placed on the ruling which expires 5 pm CT on November 11.

The state can appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals – however, that court is the same which ruled Oklahoma and Utah’s same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional, which now has become legal precedent.

The state Supreme Court is slated to hear a similar matter on November 6.

Read the ruling below:

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Marriage News Watch – November 3, 2014

From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

• The future of Florida’s marriage ban is hanging in the balance, with a big ruling that could allow marriage to start any day now.

• Anti-gay groups are still spending tons of money in multiple states, but they’re not getting much out of it.

• And there’s an election this week could determine the future of marriage in multiple southwestern states.

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Six North Carolina Magistrates Quit Rather Than Marry Same-Sex Couples

Bill Stevenson is one of six North Carolina magistrates who have resigned rather than perform same-sex weddings since the 4th Circuit Courts ruled in favor of marriage equality in Virginia.

In an interview, Stevenson said:

“I prayed about it; I asked for wisdom. I think our hearts have been led away by the cares of the world, our desires, and ultimately, our intense arrogance – our hubris – against the Lord. We’ve rejected the prime authority of the scriptures, something our Nation’s Founding Fathers, such as John Adams, knew better than to do.

“In both the Old and New Testaments, homosexuality is something the Lord does not approve of, and since He doesn’t, I could not put the sanction of the state on a relationship that runs afoul of scripture.

“I hate to wax it so biblical but it says ‘what good is it for a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul’? So, that’s the stakes I put on this.”

North Carolina is under the jurisdiction of the 4th Circuit, so the ruling becomes controlling precedent for the whole Circuit. And performing weddings is part of the magistrates’ job as a public servant.

What I never seem to understand when folks are this deeply religious – but NOT homophobic they tell you – is why aren’t they so devoutly upset about folks eating shellfish? Or folks wearing clothes out of mixed fibers? Or stoning folks to death who “labor on the Sabbath?”

Why is it only marriage equality that gets them sooooooo upset that they make such public statements?

Why? Because gay.

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South Carolina: Another Lawsuit Filed For Marriage Equality

A second lawsuit has been filed in South Carolina over the right to use a same-sex spouses’ last name:

Each plaintiff was married in another state and chose to change his or her surname but had an application to do so denied by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The lawsuit is against the state DMV. An agency spokeswoman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Earlier this month, a Lexington County woman filed a similar lawsuit challenging the state’s same-sex marriage ban.

Other lawsuits challenging the ban are pending in federal court.

On Oct. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing same-sex marriage in Virginia. The ACLU says that ruling is binding on the state of South Carolina, which remains the only state under the 4th Circuit’s jurisdiction still enforcing its same-sex marrige ban.

(via LGBTQ Nation)

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Florida: Edie Windsor Asks Gov. Rick Scott To Stop Appealing Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Marriage equality icon (and SCOTUS victor) Edie Windsor has recorded a “Letter To Gov. Rick Scott” for Equality Florida asking him to drop opposition to marriage equality in the Sunshine State:

“I am Edith S. Windsor, the plaintiff in Windsor v. United States, the case that won federal recognition of marriages for same-sex couples. The two extremely positive decisions in favor of marriage equality were Justice Jacobs’ decision in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Kennedy’s decision in the Supreme Court, both self-described conservatives. Five judges in Florida have also ruled that it’s wrong to exclude same-sex couples from marriage, and the majority of Floridians agree.

“My dear Governor Scott, I implore you to use the power of your office to allow loving couples to marry now in your state. Very respectfully yours, Edie Windsor.”

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Montana Newspaper To Attorney General On Same-Sex Marriage: “Accept The Inevitable”

Montana’s Great Falls Tribune posted an op-ed today in support of marriage equality in the state and urging Attorney General Tim Fox to “accept the inevitable” and stop defending the discriminatory law:

One after another, federal appeals courts, including the 9th Circuit that covers Montana, have thrown out gay marriage bans in other states, and Montana’s position will be overturned. Why? Because that stance discriminates against gays, lesbians and others. It is unfair to these folks, regardless of some Americans who disapprove of their sexual orientation.

The issue of homosexuality and marriage was easier to deal with when some researchers and, frankly, charlatans tried to prove that people could be cured of their gay nature. In recent decades, science indicates that sexual orientation is more likely to be based in a person’s genetic makeup.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris will hear arguments Nov. 20 on a motion for summary judgment in a case filed this spring by four gay couples. We’d like to see [AG Tim] Fox at that hearing accept the inevitable and agree with the motion.

It’s time for the state of Montana to quit wasting taxpayers’ money and to accept gay marriage in Montana, even if churches can go their own way on this matter. Some people still want to make political points with this issue, but we say, it’s too late for that. It’s all over. Montana law should allow people committed to each other, whether straight or gay, to make their relationship legal and lasting.

(h/t JMG)

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Kansas: Anti-Gay Wackadoos Phillip and Sandra Unruhs File Amicus Brief In State Marriage Case

Click pic to enlarge

Last week, Kansas wackjobs Phillip and Sandra Unruhs were quickly swatted away after their attempt to intervene in the Kansas marriage equality case where they tried to say giving equal rights to gay and lesbian couples was tantamount to STEALING it from straight couples like themselves.

The judge quickly dismissed that weak assertion.

However, the Unruhs were allowed to file an amicus brief in support of denying gays the right to marry, and so today, we have their masterpiece of a brief.

Included in the 8 page filing are statements to the effect that:

• Since the Plaintiffs are lesbians, any ruling should not affect male same-sex couples
• Giving marriage rights to same-sex couples would discriminate against opposite-sex couples based on sex
• Marriage equality would result in the taking of property rights of heterosexual couples in violation of the 5th and 14th Amendments

It’s not a long read, but pretty fascinating in it’s illogic.

See the brief below: