Marriage Equality

Philadelphia Names City Block For Edith Windsor

Pink News reports: A street sign in honor of lesbian campaigner Edie Windsor was unveiled on October 7. “‘Don’t Postpone Joy’ today and take a stroll The Edie Windsor Way,” Windsor’s widow Judith Kasen-Windsor—her second wife—wrote on Facebook on Sunday, quoting one of the campaigner’s mantras. Windsor died in September 2017 aged 88 after spending most of the past decade …

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US To Deny Visas To Unmarried Same-Sex Partners Of Diplomats, Ends Policy Enacted In 2009 Under Obama

NBC News reports: The State Department on Monday began imposing a new policy that restricts visas for the same-sex partners of staff of U.S.-based international organizations, such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The State Department’s website on G-4 visas currently states: “Effective immediately, U.S. Embassies and Consulates will adjudicate visa applications that are …

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CUBA: New President Backs Same-Sex Marriage

The BBC reports: Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has backed same-sex marriage. The Cuban leader, who took over from Raúl Castro on 19 April, said he was in favour of recognising “marriage between people without any restrictions”. In an interview with TV Telesur, he said doing so was “part of eliminating any type of discrimination in society”. It comes as Cuba …

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ROMANIA: Parliament Approves National Referendum On Same-Sex Marriage After Push By US Hate Groups

The Associated Press reports: Romanian Senators approved a measure that could pave the way for the constitution to be changed to explicitly state that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. Senators on Tuesday voted 107-13 with seven abstentions to allow a referendum that could change the constitution, which currently states that marriage is a union between …

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Australia Gets Right Wing Anti-LGBT Prime Minister

The BBC reports: Scott Morrison has become Australia’s new prime minister after Malcolm Turnbull was forced out by party rivals in a bruising leadership contest. Mr Turnbull had been under pressure from poor polling and what he described as an “insurgency” by conservative MPs. Mr Morrison, the treasurer, won an internal ballot 45-40 over former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton …

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Costa Rica: Supreme Court Rules For Marriage Equality

The Associated Press reports: Costa Rica’s supreme court has given the country’s legislature 18 months to change the law to allow gay marriage. The court voted to make gay marriage legal, declaring that existing laws banning it were unconstitutional. Magistrate Fernando Castillo said in a news conference that the laws were inconsistent with an opinion issued in January by the …

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CUBA: Draft Constitution Opens Path To Marriage

Reuters reports: The draft of Cuba’s new constitution opens the path to same-sex marriage, a government official said on Saturday, which would make the country that once persecuted homosexuals an unlikely leader in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. In the early years of Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, many homosexuals were sent to correctional labor camps, part of an institutionalized …

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Czech Government Backs Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Gay Star News reports: Czech Republic just introduced a draft law to legalize same-sex marriage today (22 June). According to iDNES, Lucie Zachariáš, the lawyer representing the campaign for marriage equality in Czech Republic said on the government’s decision: “We are happy that the government has consistently spoken about the proposal to change the Civil Code and promote marriage for …

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Gov. Cuomo Proclaims Edie Windsor Day In New York

Via press release: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today proclaimed June 20 Edie Windsor Day in New York State as a tribute to her legacy championing equality and justice for the LGBTQ community, and for being on the front lines of the fight for marriage equality. Today would have been Edie’s 89th birthday. “Edie was an iconic New Yorker who shaped …

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BERMUDA: High Court Un-Repeals Same-Sex Marriage

The Royal Gazette reports: Gay couples will once again be able to marry in Bermuda, after the Supreme Court this morning upheld a constitutional challenge against the Domestic Partnership Act. Chief Justice Ian Kawaley, delivering his judgment before a packed courtroom, said the sections of the Act which revoked the right to same-sex marriage were invalid because they were inconsistent …

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Top EU Court Rules Married Gays Have Residency Rights In Nations That Don’t Recognize Same-Sex Marriages

The BBC reports: The European Union’s top court has ruled in favour of a Romanian gay man’s right to have his US husband live with him in Romania. The country, which does not recognise same-sex marriage, had argued that the American was not entitled to the EU residency rights awarded to spouses. But the European Court of Justice said the …

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BELFAST: 20,000 March For Marriage Rights [VIDEO]

Belfast Live reports: Politicians have been urged “to do the right thing” by thousands of people who joined a rally in Belfast this afternoon calling for equal marriage. The march, which was organised by the Love Equality campaign, was led from Writer’s Square by Belfast Lord Mayor Nuala McAllister and Patrick Corrigan, from Amnesty International. Supporters lined the streets as …

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KENTUCKY: Gay Man Loses Bid To Challenge Kim Davis

The Lexington Courier Journal reports: A gay man in eastern Kentucky has lost his bid to challenge Republican county clerk Kim Davis, who went to jail three years ago for denying him and others marriage licenses in the aftermath of an historic U.S. Supreme Court decision. David Ermold sought the Democratic nomination in Tuesday’s primary in Rowan County, Kentucky. He …

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BRITAIN: Northern Ireland Marriage Equality Bill Stalls In House Of Commons After Objection By Tory MP

The Belfast Telegraph reports: A bid to introduce same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland has been blocked from progressing the legislative process in the House of Commons. MP Conor McGinn [photo] had brought a private member’s bill forward seeking to extend same-sex marriage into Northern Ireland following the collapse of the devolved government more than 15 months ago. He had expected …

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CUBA: Constitutional Reform To Include Marriage Push

The Washington Post reports: Mariela Castro [photo], a Cuban lawmaker and daughter of Communist Party chief Raul Castro, says she will push for gay marriage to be included in a constitutional reform process expected to begin in July. The reform is expected to encompass a wide range of modernizing changes to Cuba’s 1976 constitution, which was designed for a Soviet-style …

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Majorities In 44 States Now Back Same-Sex Marriage

Just in from PRRI Polling: Recent dramatic shifts in support for same-sex marriage are also evident at the state level. Today, majorities in 44 states believe gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to legally marry, compared to only 30 states in 2014. In only six states does the issue of same-sex marriage garner less than majority support: Alabama (41%), …

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BERMUDA: Cruise Line Funds Marriage Appeal

Bermuda News reports: OUTBermuda and Maryellen Jackson have filed legal action in the Bermuda Supreme Court seeking an order declaring that provisions that “have the effect of revoking same-sex marriage” are in contravention of the Bermuda Constitution, with the local legal action — which marks the second filed about the matter — being backed by the Carnival cruise line. Carnival …

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COSTA RICA: Pro-Gay Candidate Elected President In Race That Was Largely Fought On Same-Sex Marriage

The Washington Post reports: Costa Rica’s governing party won a big presidential election victory Sunday as many voters rejected an evangelical pastor who had jumped into political prominence by campaigning against same-sex marriage. The head of the Supreme Electoral Council, Luis Antonio Sobrado, said that with 95 percent of ballots counted Sunday night, Carlos Alvarado of the ruling Citizen Action …

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Judge Who Struck Down Prop 8 Dies At Age 87

The San Jose Mercury News report: Stephen Reinhardt, a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has died. He was 87. Reinhardt was considered to be one of the most liberal judges on the court. President Jimmy Carter appointed Reinhardt to the federal courts in 1980. One of Reinhardt’s most notable high-profile rulings in recent years was a 2012 …

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BRITAIN: PM Theresa May Under Fire As Northern Ireland Marriage Bill Advances In House Of Commons

The Irish Times reports: MPs have voted to give a second reading to a bill that would give same-sex couples in Northern Ireland the right to marry. Introducing the bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday, South Armagh-born Labour MP Conor McGinn said he was doing so “with reluctance and some disappointment”. He added: “This measure is long overdue. …

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