Tag: same-sex marriage

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Alaska: Sarah Palin Endorses The Opponent Of Her Former Lt. Governor

Gov. Sean Parnell (L) and Bill Walker (R)

In an interesting bit of news, it seems the Sarah Palin, the former half-term governor of Alaska, has endorsed not her former Lt. Governor – Sean Parnell – who replaced her when she chose to quit in her first term, but his opponent, Independent candidate Bill Walker.

From the National Journal:

Parnell’s 2013 restructuring of the state’s oil and gas taxes dismantled a prior, Palin-championed program that she considered to be one of the greatest achievements of her tenure. That difference of opinion is at the heart of Palin’s conflict with Parnell, which resulted in the two campaigning on opposite sides of a ballot measure in this year’s primary.

It’s worth noting that when Gov. Parnell indicated that he would appeal the recent ruling against the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, Walker issued a statement that he felt an appeal would be an “unwise use of our dwindling resources:

Walker, an attorney, responded later Sunday with criticism of the state’s decision to appeal the ruling. A recent ruling from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — which includes Alaska in its jurisdiction — said bans on same-sex marriage violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Such higher court rulings make the probability of a successful appeal when similar bans have already been overturned in other states unlikely.

Walker said he personally viewed marriage as existing between a man and a woman, but added that if he were governor, he would “uphold the laws of the land.”

“Despite my personal views on marriage, with the state’s dire financial crisis, pursuing expensive litigation that has little chance of victory is an unwise use of our dwindling resources.”

(via JMG)

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Alaska Governor Requests En Banc Hearing On Same-Sex Marriage In 9th Circuit Court

Alaska’s Gov. Sean Parnell has requested an en banc review of the recent same-sex marriage ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which effectively struck down the state’s ban on marriage equality.

Saying the original 9th Circuit ruling was based on “erroneous circuit precedent.” Gov. Parnell says the citizens of Alaska are “stripped of any ability to vindicate their ‘historic and essential authority to define the marital relation.'”

Gov. Butch Otter of Idaho has filed a similar request with the 9th Circuit for an en banc hearing regarding same-sex marriage.

You can read Parnell’s full brief below:

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Kansas: Straight Couple Joins Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuit Because the Gays Are Stealing Their “Marriage”

Click pic to enlarge

Kansas couple Phillip W. Unruh and Sandra L. Unruh have filed a motion to intervene in the ACLU’s marriage equality case in Kansas.

If I understand this correctly, the Unruhs say that should same-sex marriage be legalized in Kansas, they would “experience a taking of their property rights in marriage without due process of law.”

Apparently, “marriage” is “property” that belongs to the Unruhs by virtue of the Fifth Amendment.

Seriously, folks, you can’t make this up.

I can’t do better justice than Joe Jervis at JoeMyGod:

“Apparently, once them gays steal a chunk of their marriage, well, it’s all downhill for the Uhruhs from there. Next thing you know they’ll be cooking meth with hobos under a Kansas overpass. The rest of their brief is similarly cracktastic, complete with quotes from Genesis and the usual “they can’t even make a baby” crapola.”

If you really want to entertain yourself, hit this link and read the full brief.

I’m assuming having the nerve to file this must resemble what it’s like to be on drugs…

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Mississippi Gets Same-Sex Marriage Hearing Date of November 12th

Buzzfeed’s legal eagle Chris Geidner tweets the news that Mississippi has gotten court dates for the recently filed same-sex marriage suit challenging the state’s ban.

Note the tight timeline.

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Federal Judge Upholds Puerto Rico’s Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Juan M. Perez-Gimenez ruled that Puerto Rico’s ban on same-sex marriage should stand based on a 42 year old ruling by the Supreme Court (Baker V Nelson) saying the lawsuit “fails to present a substantial federal question.”

The judge based his decision on the absence of any guarantee of same-sex marriage present in the US Constitution, defaulting to the 42 year old ruling which said there is no inherent right to marriage without regard to gender.

Acknowledging the long list of federal court rulings since Windsor striking down state same-sex marriage bans, Judge Perez-Gimenez simply disagreed, attributing those rulings to the “ingenuity and imagination” of the judges involved.

From the ruling:

Baker, which necessarily decided that a state law defining marriage as a union between a man and woman does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, remains good law. Because no right to same-gender marriage emanates from the Constitution, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico should not be compelled to recognize such unions. Instead, Puerto Rico, acting through its legislature, remains free to shape its own marriage policy. In a system of limited constitutional self-government such as ours, this is the prudent outcome. The people and their elected representatives should debate the wisdom of redefining marriage. Judges should not.

Lambda Legal issued this statement via press release:

“The court’s ruling directly conflicts with the wave of recent decisions finding these marriage bans unconstitutional and perpetuates the discrimination and harm done to same-sex Puerto Rican couples and their families,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Staff Attorney for Lambda Legal.

“It defies the unmistakable import of the Windsor decision and flies in the face of the blizzard of rulings of the last year, the reasoned rulings of the Courts of Appeals for the 4th, 7th, 9th and 10th Circuits, and the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand the rulings striking down five bans similar to Puerto Rico’s.

“One struggles to understand how this judge came to a different conclusion. We will, of course, appeal this ruling to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals,” Gonzalez-Pagan said. “All families in Puerto Rico need the protections of marriage.”

An appeal of the ruling sends the case to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals where every state has adopted marriage equality as the law of the land.

Interestingly, the court is located in Massachusetts – the first state to adopt the freedom to marry.

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Let’s Check The Facts About Anti-Gay Idaho Wedding Venue “The Hitching Post”

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The extreme right-wing, anti-gay folks like Bryan Fischer are promoting Idaho’s The Hitching Post as a “victim” of pro-gay policies with the arrival of same-sex marriage to the state.

Coeur D’Alene is one of the few cities in Idaho which include sexual orientation in it’s nondiscrimination laws regarding public accommodation. In other words, if you are a public business, you can’t refuse service to gays and lesbians based on their sexual orientation.

Churches and religious organizations operating as 501(C)3s are exempt from the law. The Hitching Post is not one of those organizations.

The story the haters would like you to buy is that the wedding venue has been “threatened” with jail time and fines for refusing to perform same-sex marriages.

The FACTS are:

• No one has asked the venue to perform a same-sex marriage
• No one has filed a complaint against the venue
• The Hitching Post is not a church; it is a FOR-PROFIT wedding business
• The “ministers” of the venue are ordained for the purpose of performing weddings; they do have “minister” to any congregation or flock
• No one has ordered anyone at the venue to do anything

But if you listen to the Bryan Fischers and Tony Perkins of the world, the two “ministers” of The Hitching Post are about to be drawn and quartered. Take a look at this recent tweet from Bryan Fischer:

Coeur D’Alene City Spokesman Keith Erickson has publicly stated, “We have never threatened to jail them, or take legal action of any kind.”

Facts, kids. Follow the facts.

(via JMG)

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Idaho Gov. Butch Otter To Petition 9th Circuit Court for En Banc Re-hearing of Same-Sex Marriage Case

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (do you love that name or what?) announced today that he’s filing a petition with the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for an en banc re-hearing of Idaho’s same-sex marriage case.

From the Spokesman-Review:

“I will continue defending Idahoans’ self-determination and the will of Idaho voters who decided that traditional marriage is a core principle of our society,” Otter said in a statement. He said his office will file the petition later today.

An en banc review at the 9th Circuit, because the circuit is so large, would mean that a larger 11-judge panel would re-hear the case, after a three-judge panel made the decision earlier. In smaller circuits, an en banc review is a rehearing by the full court. Otter and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden earlier requested that 9th Circuit assign a full 11-judge panel to hear Idaho’s case in the first place, rather than a three-judge panel; that request was denied.

Meanwhile, county clerks began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on October 15th. By the time any appeal reaches any court, hundreds of gay and lesbian couples will be married. Can I see a show of hands of the folks who want to tell those couple’s children they won’t be a legal family anymore?

Interestingly, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden is not a party to Otter’s petition. But in a statement from his spokesman, Todd Dvorak, Wasden stated that he does plan to file an appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming weeks.

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Kansas, Montana and South Carolina Still Behind The Curve

Evan Wolfson of Freedom To Marry tweeted that yesterday noting that only Kansas, Montana and South Carolina have not moved to honor the recent rulings in three federal appellate courts concerning the freedom to marry:

• Kansas has a court date this Friday, October 24th, in Kansas City at 10AM where LGBT activists will request a temporary injunction that would bring Kansas in line with the rest of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

• Montana gets a hearing on November 20th in Great Falls where the ACLU has requested a summary judgement on the issue of same-sex marriage in light of the recent ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Montana.

• South Carolina is moving at a slower pace with written briefs due by October 23rd in a lawsuit filed which would bring the state in line with the ruling from the 4th Circuit Court. Both sides will then have 14 days to reply to briefs, and then a hearing will be scheduled within 21 days after that.

Additionally, Arkansas will also address same-sex marriage on November 20th when Federal Judge Kristine Baker will hear plaintiffs asking for a summary judgement for marriage equality while the state has filed a motion to dismiss the case altogether.

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Some Las Vegas Wedding Chapels Refuse To Perform Same-Sex Weddings

Via Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist and commentator David Horsey

After the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found Nevada’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, gay and lesbian couples have been legally allowed to marry in the state.

But according to a recent news investigation, some Las Vegas wedding chapels are refusing to perform the nuptials based on religious beliefs.

From 8 News NOW in Las Vegas:

After making calls to about 15 wedding chapels, 8 News NOW found that several of them refused to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.

The Elvis Wedding Chapel, which welcomes traditional and Elvis-themed weddings, said they wouldn’t marry same-sex couples. However, when the 8 News Now cameras were rolling as we tried to get their stance on camera, they refused to open the door.

“I’m not going to tell you,” David with the Elvis Wedding Chapel said, “It just — there is no story here.”

Dolly Deleon, the owner of the Vegas Wed Chapel, said she’s a born-again believer in Jesus.

“My faith won’t allow me,” Deleon said.

She did not know that a couple who is turned away based on race, sex, or sexual orientation could file charges against her. That could then lead to a misdemeanor arrest.

“I would be a hypocrite if I said I’m a Bible-believing person and yet I would perform marriage that believe is solely against God’s law,” Deleon said.

Because nothing says “sanctity of marriage” like being married by an Elvis impersonator, right?

The problem for businesses like Vegas Wed Chapel is that in 2011, sexual orientation was added to the state’s public accommodation law making it a misdemeanor offense for businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

“The difference between a church and a place of worship and a wedding chapel, is that a wedding chapel is a business so that is covered under the Public Accommodations Law of Nevada,” said Tod Story, ACLU.

“Any Las Vegas wedding chapel that operates as a business is covered under Nevada’s public accommodations law and is not allowed to discriminate against same-sex couples seeking a wedding ceremony, or any other couple for that matter,” says Tod Story, executive director for the ACLU of Nevada. “Currently, the way the law is written, it’s a misdemeanor crime. Any couple refused service has to file a complaint with the state. … [Vegas Wed] has turned away couples. I don’t know if [those couples] even knew there was a law that protected them.”

The news isn’t all bad though. Gay partners Jamie Richards and Ron DeCar own and operate the Viva Las Vegas chapel in Las Vegas, and have in the business of same-sex ceremony packages since 1999, even though they were not legally binding.

“From Day One we were doing commitment ceremonies,” Richards told the Daily Beast. “I worked at the MGM (Grand) years ago when you literally went to board meetings and stuff, and nobody could know you were gay. And now all the hotels embrace the gay population, and they embrace the gay dollar. It’s got to help the economy.”