Marriage Equality

Honolulu Civil Beat reports: The state Senate today easily approved House Bill 2802, which will ask voters in November to rescind a provision in the Hawaii Constitution that gives the Legislature the authority to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples. Article 1, Section 23 reserves to the Legislature the authority to define marriage, even as same-sex marriage has been federal law …

The Associated Press reports: Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill on Wednesday that would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender. The bill passed its final reading with the approval of 400 of the 415 members of the House of Representatives in …

The Virginia Mercury reports: In the first signals of how he’ll act on legislation approved by Virginia’s Democratic General Assembly, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a largely symbolic bill protecting same-sex marriage but took a more adversarial stance to bills dealing with gun control, reproductive rights and marijuana. Youngkin had until Friday night to take action on 84 bills the legislature …

CNN reports: Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee has signed a bill that allows people in the state to refuse to “solemnize,” or perform, a marriage if they disagree with it. Last week, Tennessee state lawmakers passed HB 878, which states “a person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage.” In Tennessee, only certain people can “solemnize” the “rite of …

USA Today reports: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito attempted an “I told you so” on Tuesday when he criticized a judge’s dismissal of potential jurors in a workplace discrimination case because they believed homosexuality is a sin. Alito said that’s exactly the type of outcome he warned against when, against his objections, the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the …

Reuters reports: Greece’s parliament approved a bill allowing same-sex civil marriage on Thursday, a landmark victory for supporters of LGBT rights that was greeted with cheers by onlookers in parliament and dozens gathered on the streets of Athens. The law gives same-sex couples the right to wed and adopt children and comes after decades of campaigning by the LGBT community …

“I respect the Supreme Court’s decision. We’ve abided by that in Florida even though our Constitution defines it as between a man and a woman. But I think what we need to recognize is, you know, you are going to have people try to wield power against our religious institutions and try to marginalize them simply by upholding the biblical …

The Associated Press reports: Greece’s center-right government said Thursday it would fulfill a commitment to legalize same-sex marriage, sidestepping staunch opposition from the country’s influential Orthodox Church. The legislation would be brought to parliament during the house’s current term, which ends in 2027. The statement comes after the Church’s governing Holy Synod issued a 1,500-word opinion late Wednesday, expressing strong …

Reuters reports: Thai lawmakers on Thursday overwhelmingly passed four draft bills on same-sex marriage in their first reading, moving the country closer towards its legalisation in a country with one of Asia’s most open and visible LGBT communities. All but 10 lawmakers present in parliament’s lower house voted to approve the draft legislation, paving the way to the formation of …

Pew Research reports: Attitudes about same-sex marriage vary widely around the world, according to several Pew Research Center surveys fielded in 32 places in the last two years. Among the surveyed publics, support for legal same-sex marriage is highest in Sweden, where 92% of adults favor it, and lowest in Nigeria, where only 2% back it. In the US, 63% …

The Associated Press reports: Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved an amendment to its civil code to allow same-sex marriage, with an expectation for the draft to be submitted to Parliament next month. Karom Polpornklang, a deputy government spokesperson, said the amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code will change the words “men and women” and “husband and wife” to “individuals” …

The Dallas Morning News reports: Dianne Hensley felt guilty. sitting behind her desk at the county courthouse in Waco, she could hear someone crying outside her office door. The young woman wanted to get married, Hensley recalled, but she couldn’t find anyone to do the ceremony. It was 2016, the year after the U.S. Supreme Court toppled bans on same-sex …

Reuters reports: India’s top court on Tuesday declined to legalise same-sex marriage and left it to parliament to decide, agreeing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that the legislature is the right forum to rule on the contentious issue. The unanimous order by a five-judge bench came as a huge disappointment to the large LGBTQ community in the world’s most …

The Indian legal site Bar And Bench reports: The Supreme Court will deliver on Tuesday its verdict on whether same-sex marriages should be legally recognised in India. A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha had reserved the verdict on May 11 …

The Associated Press reports: A federal jury has awarded $100,000 to a Kentucky couple who sued former county clerk Kim Davis over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Davis, the former Rowan County clerk, drew international attention when she was briefly jailed in 2015 over her refusal, which she based on her belief that marriage should only …

CNN reports: California voters will have the chance to remove language barring same-sex marriage from their state’s constitution in 2024’s general election. The California Senate passed a proposed constitutional amendment on Thursday that would repeal Proposition 8 – which voters approved in 2008 to ban the state from recognizing same-sex marriages. The state Senate voted 31-0 to repeal the proposition, …

The Texas Tribune reports: Since Waco judge Dianne Hensley received a public warning from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for refusing to perform same-sex marriages in 2019, she’s waged a public battle against the state agency. She’s long claimed the governmental body violated state law by punishing her for actions taken in accordance with her religious faith. Now, she …

Bloomberg News reports: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis plans to legalize same-sex marriage, a huge step forward for LGBTQ rights in a region where some conservative governments are cracking down on the community. “Same-sex marriage will happen at some point and it’s part of our strategy,” Mitsotakis, a center-right politician, said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Athens. …

The Associated Press reports: LGBTQ+ rights activists and couples in Nepal on Thursday were celebrating an interim order issued by the country’s Supreme Court enabling the registration of same-sex marriages for the first time. The Supreme Court issued the order on Wednesday allowing for the temporary registration of marriages for same-sex and non-traditional couples. It was not clear when the …

Reuters reports: Estonia’s parliament approved on Tuesday a law to legalise same-sex marriage, making it the first central European country to do so. Same-sex marriage is legal in much of western Europe but not in central European countries which were once under communist rule and members of the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact alliance but now members of NATO and, largely, the …