Tag: South Carolina

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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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Lambda Legal Sues South Carolina Over Same-Sex Marriage

The domino effect of the US Supreme Court’s decision to NOT review any of the same-sex marriage rulings from appellate courts has become apparent as states under the jurisdiction of those courts now are bound by the Circuit Court rulings.

That includes South Carolina, who is covered under the jurisdiction of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals who held that Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional.

However, South Carolina Governor Haley and Attorney General Wilson continue to apply the marriage ban as if nothing had happened.

So….

Today Lambda Legal, in partnership with South Carolina Equality, filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court of South Carolina arguing that South Carolina is obligated to allow same-sex couples to marry.

“The Fourth Circuit’s decision means that same-sex couples in South Carolina should be shopping for a caterer, not a lawyer. Governor Haley and Attorney General Wilson cannot continue to ignore the rule of law. Fortunately, they have run out of cards to play – we’re urging the court to allow same-sex couples in South Carolina to marry without any further delay,” said Beth Littrell, Senior Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. “The state doesn’t have any credible arguments for a court in South Carolina to entertain.”

“The Governor and Attorney General are playing politics with our families and it’s shameful,” said South Carolina Equality lawyer Nekki Shutt, partner at Callison Tighe & Robinson. “Instead of celebrating and planning weddings, same-sex couples all over South Carolina are holding their collective breath – and they have been waiting long enough.”

(via press release)

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First Same-Sex Marriage License Issued in South Carolina

A Charleston, South Carolina probate judge has just issued the state’s first marriage license to a gay couple.

The license was issued to Charleston County Councilwoman Colleen Condon and her fiancé Nichols Bleckley.

The AP reports:

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal of a ruling allowing same-sex marriage by a federal appeals court with jurisdiction over South Carolina.

In a statement, Condon said that as a result, his court is required to accept and issue marriage licenses.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is reviewing the situation.

(from Towleroad)

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Small town mayor fires South Carolina police chief for being lesbian

Police chief Crystal Moore

The mayor of small town Latta in South Carolina has fired the police chief on the basis that she’s a lesbian.  Rawstory has the details:

Latta Mayor Earl Bullard fired Police Chief Crystal Moore on Tuesday, saying the 20-year veteran had drawn seven reprimands — but a city councilwoman said the mayor issued all of those reprimands in one day, the first in her career.

One of the city councilmen, Jared Taylor, said he recorded the mayor making anti-LGBT remarks during a phone conversation.

“I would much rather have, and I will say this to anybody’s face, somebody who drank and drank too much taking care of my child than I had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children,” Bullard says in the recording.

“Because that ain’t the damn way it’s supposed to be,” the mayor continues. “You know, you got people out there — I’m telling you, buddy — I don’t agree with some of the lifestyles that I see portrayed, and I don’t say anything because that is the way they want to live, but I am not going to let my child be around.”

Bullard tells the city councilman that he doesn’t approve of same-sex marriage and would not want his child to be aware that such relationships exist.

“That ain’t the way the world works,” the mayor says. “Now all these people showering down and saying, ‘Oh, it’s a different lifestyle, they can have it.’ OK, fine and dandy, but I don’t have to look at it, and I don’t want my child around it.”

The mayor says he has the right to hire and fire who he wants, but the City Council disagrees. The council voted 6-1 to hold a referendum to change the balance of power in Latta.

The small town has thrown support behind the ousted police chief, with over 100 residents of the small town showing up at the town hall.

Watch the report below from WBTW:

WBTW-TV: News, Weather, and Sports for Florence, SC

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South Carolina mayor – I don’t want “queers” ramming marriage equality down my throat

West Union Mayor Linda Oliver doesn't want marriage equality rammed down her throat
West Union Mayor Linda Oliver

From Huffington Post: A South Carolina mayor has sparked the ire of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community after expressing her opposition to same-sex marriage in a Facebook status referencing “queers.”

As Fox Carolina is reporting, West Union Mayor Linda Oliver took to Facebook in response to a North Carolina county official’s decision to defy his state’s ban on same-sex marriage by accepting marriage applications from LGBT couples.

While the mayor’s controversial post has since been deleted, Towleroad quotes Oliver as having originally written:

What’s it gonna take to get these queers to realize they don’t need a piece of paper. God will not bless their union because he plainly speaks against queers in the Bible. Want to cover your queer with insurance? Buy a policy. Want your queer to get your stuff when you die? Make a will.

The post quickly drew an onslaught of criticism from Facebook users. Meanwhile, a Facebook group titled “Recall West Union S.C. Mayor Linda Oliver” was also created in the wake of the controversy.

But Oliver says she anticipated the heated response, speaking to Fox Carolina, she compared herself to Jesus Christ saying “All I can say is if people want to crucify me, that’s fine. I know that following Jesus, I’m going to be crucified.”

On the topic of same-sex marriage, she added, “I don’t want it rammed down my throat.”

FOX Carolina 21

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South Carolina: Columbia police officers defy orders to march in Pride parade

Based on “religious beliefs,” two Columbia, SC, police officers defied orders and went over their police chief’s head:

Santiago had ordered a lieutenant and sergeant to join eight other officers in last Saturday’s parade even though they cited religious beliefs in their opposition. On the day of the parade, City Manager Teresa Wilson and her assistant met with Santiago and reached an agreement to make participation in the parade voluntary since there were then enough officers to march.

The police chief says not following direct orders and going around the chief sets bad precedent.

“An officer cannot choose their assignments based on their religious beliefs. When you have a police department that really values strict discipline and adherence and obedience to directives, the Chief of Police is the person they look toward for that direction. Any department that expects to instill public trust, must demonstrate that by being visible to the public.”

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott agrees:

“A chief or sheriff has to be able to make the decisions, a person that works underneath him are not going to respect them if they don’t have the ability to make decisions, and I think that’s a problem with the Columbia Police Department, not just now but for many many years/”

wistv.com – Columbia, South Carolina |

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Former South Carolina lawmaker changes stance on marriage equality

John Hawkins, a former state senator for the 12th district, spearheaded the campaign to pass a constitutional ban on marriage equality in South Carolina in 2005. The ban in still on the books in the state keeping gays and lesbians from the same marriage rights straight couples celebrate in the state.

Today, however, Hawkins has had a change of heart on the issue. From Live5News in Charleston:

“I was wrong about pursuing the marriage amendment,” Hawkins said. “I wish I hadn’t been so strident against it.”

Hawkins said his opinion changed over the past eight years because of “enlightenment, empathy and understanding.”

“Alliance for Full Acceptance” Executive Director Warren Redman-Gress said he invited Hawkins to speak before the group’s bi-monthly meeting after reading a Facebook post from the former lawmaker, which detailed his changed opinion.

“I’m really hoping that people are going to walk away from this with a little bit of healing,” he said. “It would be great if everyone who stood against us in the Senate said, ‘We were wrong; In fact, you really do deserve equal rights.'”

Hawkins served in the state Senate from 2001 until 2009 and currently works as a lawyer in Greenville. He says he has no plans to run for public office again.

“People can change,” “There is hope for change for people in all stripes for acceptance of our fellow human beings and their right to marry.”

Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports
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South Carolina: Restaurant denies service to party of 25 African-Americans when white person felt “threatened”

A group of customers at a Wild Wing restaurant in Charleston, SC were forced to wait two hours for their table and then were ultimately denied service on the basis of their race. According to Charleston’s WNEW Channel 5, the group of 25 African-Americans were asked to leave because a white customer felt “threatened.”

Michael Brown and a group composed of family and friends were gathered in July at the North Charleston Wild Wing Café to say farewell to a cousin who was moving away. The party waited for two hours for a table only to be told by a manager that there was “a situation.”

“She said there’s a situation where one of our customers feels threatened by your party, so she asked us not to seat you in our section, which totally alarmed all of us because we’re sitting there peaceably for two hours,” Brown told Channel 5. “Obviously, if we were causing any conflict, we would have been ejected out of the place hours before.”

A member of the party began to film the discussion between Brown and the restaurant manager with a camera phone.

“I asked her I want to be clear with you,” Brown recounted. “I said so you’re telling me I have to leave. She said I have a right to deny you service. I said so you’re asking me to leave because you’re upset because he was recording you, after we’ve waited for two hours, and after you’ve already pretty much discriminated on us, and she answered yes.”

Brown took the issue to Facebook on Friday after several unsuccessful calls to the company’s corporate office.

I will never go to Wild wings cafe in N. Chs again! We (Party of 25 family and friends) waited 2hrs, patiently and were refused service because another customer (White) felt threatened by us. This type of racial discrimination is unacceptable and we have to put a STOP TO IT. The manager looked me dead in the face and said she was refusing us service because she had a right to and simply she felt like it. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ESTABLISHMENT… PLEASE SHARE THIS POST… We need your help.

That got Wild Wings’ corporate office’s attention.

“We got alerted through social media, so we always encourage our customers to respond to us or to comment on our social media pages,” Debra Stokes, chief marketing officer for Wild Wing Cafe, told Channel 5.

“We had a conversation,” says Stokes. “It was a really good conversation. He and many of his family and friends were there about a month ago, and they are regular customers of ours. So, they were having a going away party, and they just didn’t receive the experience that they have come to know and love.”

(via Raw Story)

WNEM TV 5

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Jenny Sanford: Mark Sanford didn’t want ‘promise to be faithful’ in wedding vows

Jenny Sanford, former wife of Mark Sanford, wrote a candid 2010 book called Staying True about her marriage to the former south Carolina governor.

Here’s just one of many painful passages that reveal a bit about Sanford (who is currently running for Congress again in SC):

“A short while before the wedding, when Mark and I were picking readings and vows, Mark told me that he didn’t want to use a wedding vow that included the promise to be faithful. He was worried in some odd nagging way, he said, that he might not be able to remain true to that vow. In retrospect, I suppose I might have seen this as a sign that Mark wasn’t fully committed to me, and with the benefit of the knowledge I have about Mark now, I could point to this moment as a clear sign of things to come.”

(via Buzzfeed)

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SC Governor: “There is no war on women; women are doing well”

Gov. Nikki Haley’s definition of “doing well”:

• Unemployment for women has been practically stagnant for three years

• 88 percent of jobs created since the end of the recession went to men

• In Haley’s state of South Carolina, women are paid just 76 cents for every dollar a man makes

• Women also face higher poverty rates in South Carolina with 19 percent below the poverty line compared to 15 percent of men

“If you don’t feel this is an attack [on women], you need to go home and talk to your wife and your daughters,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll out this morning shows him trailing Obama by 19 points among women.
(source)