Same-sex couples married elsewhere would be granted the same legal rights and protections in Washington state as domestic partners under a bill headed to the governor's desk after clearing its last legislative hurdle Wednesday.
The measure passed the Senate on a 28-19 vote.
Gay marriage remains illegal in Washington state. But under this bill, same-sex marriages and domestic partnerships perform...
An announcement by immigration officials in Washington on Monday that they were delaying decisions on some immigration cases involving gay couples led to a surge of expectations among gay advocates that the Obama administration had taken a small but significant step toward recognizing same-sex marriage.
But on Tuesday, immigration officials moved swiftly to clarify their position and dampen thos...
The House blocked an attempt Tuesday to blast a stalled bill out of committee so representatives could debate whether to repeal the state law declaring gay sex to be illegal.
The leading backer of the bill said the Montana Supreme Court, in a unanimous 1997 decision, struck down the law banning gay sex as unconstitutional, but it remains on the state law books.
A leading opponent said the court ...
The Indiana Senate approved a proposed amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions this afternoon by a vote of 40-10.
If the General Assembly passes the measure again in 2013 or 2014, it would go to the voters in 2014, before the state constitution can be amended.
The Indiana House already approved the measure....
Cantil-Sakauye addressed the question of standing, which the Ninth Circuit federal appeals court handed to the California justices to decide. She also defended the state court's scheduling of the case, the expedited timeline of which she called "unprecedented," despite the request of anti-Prop 8 lawyers for an even faster resolution. And she addressed a frequent point of contention: whether judges...
Two prominent African American clergy members said during a recent appearance at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club that LGBTs need to do more work with other communities if they want to succeed in the fight for marriage equality.
There has not been much progress in such coalition building, judging from the remarks of the Reverend Eric Lee, president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Co...
The Netherlands was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage, in 2001. Faasen and Thus, both in traditional, flowing wedding gowns, exchanged the first nuptials alongside three pairs of grooms in Amsterdam on April 1 that year before then mayor Job Cohen.
Since then, nearly 15,000 gay and lesbian couples have wed in the Netherlands -- about two percent of the total number of marriages regi...
I have to say that between DADT, DOMA, anti-bullying initiatives, and now this, the Obama administration has turned things around. Was it Rahm's departure? Was it the realization that gay issues have become a wedge that divides Republicans? Was it panic over the drop in gay donations to Dems during the mid-terms and the rise in the percentage of the gay vote going to Republicans? Whatever it was, ...
Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, who authored the Defense of Marriage Act but has since come out in favor of its repeal, will be keynote speaker at Log Cabin Republicans' National Convention in Dallas next month, according to a press release from the group.
The convention is set for April 28 through May 1 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, and Barr will speak at the National Dinner on April 30.
"C...
Despite statements from leading organizations - most prominently, Immigration Equality - suggesting that the cases would be held in abeyance until DOMA's constitutionality is settled, a DHS official told Metro Weekly on Monday night that the abeyance could last for as little as a week.
"[P]ursuant to CIS's routine practice when there's a new law or regulation that will potentially affect their re...
Eight months after sparking a national firestorm over donations in support of a political candidate who opposed gay rights, Target Corp. once again is raising the ire of the gay and lesbian community by suing a California advocacy group that has been lobbying for same-sex marriage outside its stores....
Sending HB 437 back to committee seems like a victory to many who don't know how savvy politicians are in this state, so I feel it is my obligation to share some insight into this matter. I've contacted Rep. David Bates and exhanged dialogue through emails; he has no intention of changing his position on this matter. So why then would he request the Judicial Committee table the bill he sponsored u...
With distance, I could see the mean-spirited nature of the anti-gay movement, and the naked way large Christian organizations used the "gay threat" to raise money. Free from the constraints of a congregation, I could spend more time actually looking at the biblical texts that deal with homosexuality, and I was surprised to find they were not as clear as I had supposed they were. At this point, I h...
The leader of a Senate committee that has control of a House-passed resolution on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages in Iowa said Thursday he does not have the votes to move it so it likely will fall victim to an April 1 "funnel" deadline....
While speaking at the Rediscover God In America Conference (which may recall for some people the America Return To God Prayer Movement, which is led by none other than William Tam of Prop 8 Trial fame), Mike Huckabee called upon his listeners to become "spiritual warriors" who will fight against social issues like marriage equality for queers at all costs....
Following up on reports from this weekend, Metro Weekly just received confirmation from Christopher Bentley, the spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, that cases of foreign partners who are married to a same-sex partner and would otherwise be eligible for a green card are on hold in light of questions about the continued validity of the Defense of Marriage Act....
"Obviously, with the Republicans in power, you're not going to get the bill even considered," Frank said.
"This is an organizing effort. I'm going to be urging people to spend their time talking to those who have voted in the past for ENDA and are supportive of ENDA but where we're not certain they're still with us on the transgender issue. So, that's what - having a bill before you makes it easi...
Republicans like to cast themselves as the protectors of "family values." But that mantle properly belongs to President Obama and the Congressional Democrats committed to ending this atrocious law.
Denying same-sex couples and their families the significant savings of filing joint tax returns, Social Security survivor benefits, and about 1,130-plus other spousal benefits and protections granted o...
In response to an online appeal by the Hollywood-based Courage Campaign for testimony to back the legal challenge of Proposition 8 and other gay-rights litigation, more than 3,000 couples came forward with their stories about why they believe marriage can't wait.
"Life is not eternal -- sometimes it is tragically short -- and courts should not act as if it were otherwise," said Chad Griffin, boar...
Sex sells when it comes to marriage equality, with a male modeling agency lending its talents to a new fundraising campaign. A reprieve for a woman facing deportation proves just how important marriage can be. Meanwhile, more voters than ever support the freedom to marry, so why aren't politicians listening?
...
Nobody knows for certain how many Maryland couples are affected by the bill's defeat. In a statistic that experts say they think is low, the 2000 census counted 11,000 Maryland households headed by same-sex couples.
For now, same-sex marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions, including the District, are recognized by the state under an opinion issued last year by state Attorney General D...
The battle to uphold Proposition 8's restrictions against gay marriage found new support from a Murrieta-based nonprofit law firm.
Advocates for Faith & Freedom plans to file legal briefs with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by March 15 as it defends the Imperial County Clerk's ability to enforce the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. Advocates for Faith & Freedom announ...
She and Brian are far more concerned with dividing and conquering than accuracy or unity. More concerned with spinning false, cover-providing narratives than focusing on the merits of equal protection under the constitution....
According to the New York Times, participants in the meeting said the governor was "unexpectedly forceful and impassioned" about the issue.
He is to ask his most senior aide and secretary, Steven M Cohen, to oversee the administration's efforts to bring about marriage equality.
Mr Cuomo is said to be cautious of moving too soon, as a bill was defeated on the Senate floor in 2009 after support wa...
Raskin attributed the disappointing outcome in large part to a "fierce grassroots campaign" by religious groups opposed to marriage equality. He said opponents seemed spurred to action by the success in the senate, which approved the bill by a 25-21 vote two weeks ago without protracted debate.
"A number of delegates told me they were planning to move in a positive direction but there were just t...
Maryland House of Delegates Chairman Del. Joseph Vallario stunned supporters and opponents of Senate Bill 116, the Civil Marriage Protection Act, after a three-hour debate during the bill's final reading by sending it back to the House' Judiciary Committee for further debate.
During the final moments of debate, discussions became religious from both sides of the argument....
After voting down four hostile GOP amendments, the Maryland House of Delegates has just voted to advance its marriage equality bill to a third (and possibly final) reading tomorrow....
The Rhode Island House could vote on its own version of the legislation within a few weeks. House Speaker Gordon Fox, D-Providence, is openly gay and a co-sponsor of the bill. He said the Senate may be the chief obstacle to passing the bill. Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed opposes the bill.
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"The Senate is more of a battleground," he said....
"Today's roll out is the next step in a broader strategic plan aimed at raising awareness and building the wave of support necessary to achieve a legislative victory this year," said Martha Holt, Marriage Equality Rhode Island board member, in a news release from the group. "The message of the commercial, 'It's Time,' reflects a belief shared by a majority of Rhode Islanders - it's time we live up...
House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, who is an openly gay Providence Democrat, said recently that he is "doing everything in his power" to move forward a House bill that would allow gay couples to marry, regardless of whether the bill has support in the Senate.
Last week, he confirmed that a House Judiciary Committee vote -- representing the first time the bill would be put to a vote in either chamber --...
In response, the National Organization for Marriage has publicly offered a bribe to legislators: If you vote the way we want, then we will spend a million dollars on your reelection....
Rather than seeking to defend this law in court, House Republican Leaders should work with us to repeal DOMA. This action debunks House Republican Leadership's claim of being the so-called guarantor of states' rights. House Republican Leaders seem only to favor states' rights when it suits them ideologically. Rather than recognizing every states' married couples equally, Section 3 of DOMA refus...
At least as many same-sex couples as heterosexual couples - and possibly more - appear to have applied for marriage licenses since gay marriage was legalized in the city last March.
The total number of applications more than doubled since the first same-sex couples lined up to get their licenses, from about 3,100 in the previous year to 6,600 during the past 12 months, said Leah H. Gurowitz, spok...
State House lawmakers voted 58-39 Friday night to approve a bill to recognize same-sex marriages from out of state as valid domestic partnerships in Washington.
The bill sponsor, Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said she wants to correct what she sees as the unjust exclusion of same-sex marriages from protections for state-registered domestic partnerships....
Maryland's same-sex marriage bill arrived on the House floor Tuesday morning, but before debate could begin, it was postponed until Wednesday.
House rules allow members to lay over bills for a day under certain circumstances. House leaders said they expect debate over proposed amendments to begin Wednesday, with a vote on the bill expected by Friday....
Senate Bill 172 by Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, is expected to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, but its outcome is uncertain in the Republican-controlled House.
Not everyone in the gay community supports the measure. Tom Carllon called civil unions "crumbs" and said if it passes, it is unlikely there would be a push to overturn Lundberg's constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage.
...
The 2010 National LGBT Movement Report examines 39 leading organizations of the national LGBT movement comprising 69 percent of the budgets of all LGBT social justice advocacy groups. MAP found that organizations were highly adaptive in meeting the challenges of the difficult economy and have responded in part by scaling back their programs and taking other steps to reduce expenses to better match...
In legal papers filed last week, lawyers challenging Proposition 8 took note of the "serious, lasting, and irreparable damage to gay men and lesbians who wish to marry" caused by this extended timetable and called on the federal court to lift its injunction.
The stay should never have been granted in the first place. Applying traditional legal criteria, the extraordinary relief of a stay is only ...
Lawyers for sponsors of California's gay marriage ban say the Obama administration's refusal to defend a federal law prohibiting government recognition of same-sex marriages has no bearing on a California case.
As a result, the attorneys are urging a federal appeals court to keep blocking same-sex unions while it considers the constitutionality of the ballot measure known as Proposition 8.
Articl...
There will also undoubtedly be a debate about whether the state could design some institution other than marriage. We believe that any attempt to create a separate set of rules for our families will be far more complicated than ending the exclusion of our families from marriage and inevitably lead to unequal treatment. In the decade since civil unions were first created, this belief has been borne...
In their response filing today, attorney Theodore Olson writes: "No county clerk has any legally protected interest in taking sides over what the marriage laws say; the interpretation of those laws belongs to state officials, and the clerk's only interest is to follow the State's directive in applying those laws." He goes on to say that in any case, Storey's motion comes too late anyway since "the...
There's a bitter battle shaping up in Congress, and a nailbiting fight to the finish in Maryland. A new judge in the Prop 8 case, and a big surprise from Wyoming Republicans, thanks in part to one legislator's gay daughter.
Now that Obama has deci...
The narrative was clear: with Republicans in charge, gay rights were in the crosshairs. Yet when a threat is beaten back, particularly when Republicans are part of the defense, coverage by national gay media is remarkably thin. Take, for example, Wyoming, which just voted down a measure that would deny recognition to same-sex couples married in other states. Republican leadership was vital to thi...
A national group that opposes gay marriage is appealing a federal judge's decision to uphold Maine's campaign finance disclosure law that could force it to reveal its list of donors.
Lawyers for the National Organization for Marriage filed their notice of appeal with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, which already is considering another constitutional challenge of Maine's campaign ...
Saying that he expects the U.S. Supreme Court to agree with his arguments that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, Olson noted that the question of standing - whether there is an appropriate party appealing the case - may keep the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case from going forward.
That won't stop him or AFER.
''If that doesn't happen in this case,'' he said, ''then the American Foundation for Equal...
Boehner said:
"I will convene a meeting of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group for the purpose of initiating action by the House to defend this law of the United States, which was enacted by a bipartisan vote in Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton. It is regrettable that the Obama Administration has opened this divisive issue at a time when Americans want their leaders to focus on jobs ...
Overall, voters have shown an eight-percentage-point increase in support of marriage equality since 2009. Currently, 45% say gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry, 46% are opposed, and 9% are undecided....
A rather unusual event recently took place in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Fort Washington, Md. Several ministers of black churches met with members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community -- and formally apologized for what the organizers described as the church's judgmental attitude toward individuals who experience same-sex attraction and their loved ones....
Holder, in his letter to Boehner and in his press statement, said he will tell the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston and the judges in two San Francisco cases who are also considering the Defense of Marriage Act's constitutionality that the more rigorous standard of constitutional review is required.
The current standard under case law in those federal circuits is that there merely be a rational ba...
House Speaker John A. Boehner brought the Republican-led House into the gay marriage debate Friday by announcing plans to initiate a legal defense of the 1996 law that bars the federal government from giving legal rights or federal benefits to gay couples.
Boehner, an Ohio Republican, seized on the opportunity to take up a social issue after the Obama administration announced last week that its ...
The House's four openly gay representatives - Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Jared Polis of Colorado, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and David Cicilline of Rhode Island - have joined with Jerrold Nadler of New York and John Conyers of Michigan to urge House Speaker John Boehner not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Boehner on Friday announced the creation of a five-member panel to conside...
A previously stalled bill to allow same-sex marriages in Maryland was approved by a House committee Friday, but only after the panel's chairman, who rarely votes, augmented the final tally.
The 12-to-10 vote by the House Judiciary Committee sends the bill to the floor next week for what is expected to be a dramatic debate on the highest-profile issue being considered in the General Assembly this ...
David Bates, R-Windham, the prime sponsor of HB 437, said at the public hearing, House leadership has agreed to back the bills next year.
Gov. John Lynch has said he would veto any attempt to repeal the law....
As a question on its own, churchgoing African Americans are against same-sex marriage. But when the issue is wrapped up into a larger political context, it becomes just one of many and generally not the deciding one, said the Rev. Al Sharpton, an Obama ally.
"I remember in 2003 when I said I was for gay marriage. I got a lot outrage from my fellow ministers," Sharpton said. "I've been on my radio...
While little is known about Ware's attitude regarding LGBTs and civil rights, there is this case from Morgan Hill, where he ruled that students have a right to sue their school district for homophobic harassment. (The case was eventually settled.)...
Indeed, even before that November vote, prominent white members of the LGBT community vilified religious African Americans for supposedly voting with a stridently anti-LGBT agenda. Indeed, church attendance has been called the main cause of black voters' support for Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.
But the truth is actually reversed. Focused far more on job creation, health care an...
Ed is 78 years old, has Alzheimer's disease and wants to get married before he can't recognize his partner of 40 years anymore. The Courage Campaign's field team drove out to videotape him because his story was so compelling....
New Hampshire lawmakers won't be voting on bills to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law until next year.
The House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Thursday to hold onto two bills that would repeal the law that has been in effect a little over a year....
State Supreme Court spokeswoman Lynn Holton points out that although the court rejected the expedited timeline, "... the court in fact has already expedited the Prop. 8 case by setting a special briefing schedule and oral arguments in September. Although September may seem like a long way away for arguments, it's actually earlier than the court would normally schedule them in a case accepted for r...
Sam Arora, a Maryland delegate who campaigned on marriage equality last year, has indicated that he may not vote for the bill when it gets to the house floor....
Attached to the response was a copy of a letter to Speaker Boehner, sent on Friday, following up on Wednesday's notification letter with a list of pending cases in which Section 3 is under challenge and in which Congress may want to field counsel to defend the law. Ten cases are listed, in various pretrial or appellate stages with numerous deadlines pending, some within weeks. If the House wants...
A bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland appears to be back on track after two key lawmakers reaffirmed their support a day after missing a scheduled vote on the issue.
Delegates Tiffany Alston, Prince George's County Democrat, and Jill Carter, Baltimore city Democrat, said Wednesday that they are ready to cast votes on the bill, which is in House's 22-member Judiciary Committee....
Fox says he's conscious that time may be running short. Very soon, he said, the assembly session will be dominated by the state budget, grappling with the financial solvency of cities and towns, and public education reform....
The Baltimore Democrat said she was withholding support to call attention to other issues -- education funding, joint custody of children in divorces -- that she says she views as "more important, or at least equally important."
It's unclear whether the House Judiciary Committee will try again today to take a vote on the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act. The plan needs 12 commi...
The LGBTQ activist organization Queer Rising's protest against New York's discriminatory marriage laws ends in arrest after eight members refused to move from the intersection at 42nd St. and 6th Avenue. A 75-foot banner reading "NY DEMANDS MARRIAGE EQUALITY NOW!" was unfurled....
Harris asked the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to let same-sex weddings resume in California while the court reviews Prop. 8. The case is on hold while the state Supreme Court decides whether the measure's sponsors can appeal a federal judge's decision declaring Prop. 8 unconstitutional.
Even if backers have legal standing, Harris said, "the likelihood that the appeal will...
It is easy to sit on the sidelines and say that the government should always "defend the law." But those who would defend this law, perhaps including even the House leadership, will find that doing so requires them to argue that discrimination against individuals or couples on the basis of their sexual orientation is generally reflective of merit, not bias. The courts ought to hear that view from...
One of two legislators who went missing Tuesday morning for a committee vote on Maryland's same-sex marriage legislation said they are withholding their votes on the bill to gain "leverage" on unrelated issues they consider equally important.
Del. Jill Carter (D-Baltimore) told reporters Tuesday afternoon that she and Del. Tiffany T. Alston (D-Prince George's) are concerned about school funding f...
The House's version of the bill stated that same-sex marriages and civil unions aren't entitled to any obligations, benefits or protections under Wyoming law; the Senate added a clause guaranteeing people in a legal out-of-state civil union would have access to Wyoming courts.
But with the Legislature set to adjourn for the year on Thursday, the conference committee took out all language dealing ...
There are precedents for what the Justice Department is doing, but not many. In 1946, in United States v. Lovett, the Supreme Court considered a case about a law withholding salaries from government officials said to be radicals. The executive branch complied with the law but told the Supreme Court it was unconstitutional. A lawyer representing Congress urged the court to uphold it, and the justic...
Opinions dating to at least 1860 assert the President's authority to decline to effectuate enactments that the President views as unconstitutional. See, e.g., Memorial of Captain Meigs, 9 Op. Att'y Gen. 462, 469-70 (1860) (asserting that the President need not enforce a statute purporting to appoint an officer); see also annotations of attached Attorney General and Office of Legal Counsel opinions...
Today, Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, and Lambda Legal jointly filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals asking the court to lift the temporary stay in the federal court challenge to Proposition 8.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Prop 8 was unconstitutional in August 2010. However, ...
As the documents compiled by the Senate Legal Counsel indicate, the Department has declared that it will decline to defend the constitutionality of a statute in a wide variety of circumstances. For example, in several of the cases listed by the Senate Legal Counsel, the Department defended the constitutionality of a statute in district court, but declined to appeal an adverse decision because of ...
In other words, the administration may have concluded that the law is unconstitutional but it will continue to enforce the law until the appellate process has completed itself and a final judgment is reached. Additionally, DOJ has including Golinski's case on its list of cases that have been or could be impacted by the Feb. 23 decision about Section 3 of DOMA and, accordingly, is notifying Congres...
A proposed amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that would specify the state wouldn't recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere died Friday when it missed a procedural deadline in the state Legislature.
The Wyoming House adjourned without taking action on a same-sex marriage bill that had already passed the state Senate. Passing the measure would have required a two-thirds vote in both ho...
