Marriage Equality

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, flanked by his hate group leader wife and Liberty Counsel head Mat Staver, this afternoon held a press conference to denounce the mentally ill “atheists, homosexuals, and transgenders” who conspired with the SPLC to file ethics complaints against him with the state Judicial Inquiry Commission. AL.com reports: The JIC, which could determine whether …

Yesterday the Liberty Counsel announced that crackpot Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore will hold a press conference at 3PM today about the SPLC’s ethics complaint against him. According to a columnist for the Montgomery Advertiser, Moore’s removal from the bench is all but guaranteed. From the Liberty Counsel: The Chief Justice and his attorneys will address complaints filed …

Via press release: On Saturday, retired Bishop Talbert co-officiated with Rev. Val Rosenquist at the wedding of Jim Wilborne and John Romano at First United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C., with other clergy present in support. The ceremony may immediately jeopardize the pastoral credentials of Rev. Rosenquist because the current anti-LGBTQ policy of The United Methodist Church (UMC) pointedly instructs …

Alabama News reports: An Alabama House committee has approved a bill that would replace state-signed marriage licenses with contracts in a bid to free probate judges from signing licenses for gay couples. The House Judiciary committee voted Wednesday for the bill, which passed the Senate in March. Republican Sen. Greg Albritton’s bill would require couples to file a form to …

Remember the nutcase who sued Apple in 2013 because his computer didn’t block him from accessing the porn which ruined his marriage? And then in 2014 when he attempted to intervene in one of Florida’s same-sex marriage cases so that he could marry that porn-filled laptop? Well, he’s back. Via the Houston Press: Chris Sevier has filed a lawsuit against …

“The question is going to be, if we’re not in favor of same-sex marriage, what ARE we in favor of for people with same-sex attractions and how are we helping them live out their vocations? There’s a universal human desire for friendship, for companionship. We all have a need for relationships that matter. So when Thanksgiving comes around, when Christmas …

Last night John Kasich reaffirmed his earlier statements that same-sex marriage is a settled issue. “There could be an effort to pass a Constitutional Amendment. I’m not for doing it. I’m for moving on,” the Republican presidential hopeful said Thursday in a town hall airing on MSNBC. “Exactly where it is now, I’m fine with it,” he said when asked …

Reuters reports: Kentucky’s governor on Wednesday signed into law a bill that removes county clerks’ names from the state marriage license forms at the center of a controversy involving an official jailed last year for refusing to issue licenses to gay couples. Senate Bill 216, signed by Republican Governor Matt Bevin, also creates a single form that either heterosexual or …

The Guardian reports: A Chinese judge has rejected a gay couple’s attempt to secure the right to marry in the country’s first same-sex marriage case. Sun Wenlin, 27, from the central province of Hunan, had sued the civil affairs bureau in the city of Changsha for the right to marry his 37-year-old partner Hu Mingliang, a security guard. Sun decided …

Two days ago the Colombian Constitutional Court ruled 6-3 to legalize same-sex marriage and while some formalities remain ahead before weddings can commence, Levis yesterday extended their congratulations with a cheeky hanky code image.

CNN reports: Pope Francis put his shoulder to the doors of the Catholic Church and shoved them open a little wider Friday, calling for the church to be more tolerant in practice, while not changing any official doctrines. He urged priests around the world to be more accepting of gay men and lesbians, divorced Catholics and other people living in …

Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A federal appeals court on Thursday stated unambiguously that Puerto Rico’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages is unconstitutional, throwing a federal judge off a case after the judge had ruled in March that the ban was still in effect. “The district court’s ruling errs in so many respects that it is hard to know where …

In a ruling that was widely anticipated, today the Colombian Constitution Court issued a landmark 6-3 ruling which legalizes same-sex marriage nationwide. Today’s ruling follows a 2011 decision which declared that unions between same-sex couples fall under the government’s definition of families. You can find Spanish-language reporting on today’s ruling here and here. I’ll update this post shortly when we …

The local Republican Party in each state and territory selects two people to help craft the GOP’s official platform at the convention. Politico today reports that these 112 platform committee members are being lobbied by GOP moderates to write a more inclusive platform position on same-sex marriage, which was denounced in the 2012 platform with a call for a constitutional …

Donald Trump’s current positions on gay marriage, foreign policy, and other issues are totally contradicted by posts pulled from his own blog using the Wayback Machine. Unshocking, yes. Via USA Today: Ten years ago, Donald Trump had a pretty open mind about gay marriage. “If two people dig each other, they dig each other,” he wrote about the marriage of …

The Perchy Bird reports: Greenland’s same-sex marriage law went into effect today (April 1st). The marriage bill, which is an adoption of Denmark’s matrimonial laws, was passed unanimously by both the Greenlandic Parliament and Danish Parliament. The two-year long journey from the first marriage bill’s submission to marriage equality in Greenland began back in 2014 when the same-sex marriage bill …

In April 2013, Orange County elementary school teacher Rebecca Friedrichs sued the California Teachers Association, arguing that her mandatory union fees meant that she had been unwillingly forced into financially supporting the union’s advertising campaign against the passage of Proposition 8. Friedrich’s suit was joined by the Christian Educators Association International. Which brings us to today. Via The Atlantic: The …

From the Knoxville News Sentinel: The state must pay more than $2 million in legal fees to three couples who successfully challenged Tennessee’s same-sex marriage ban, a federal judge in Nashville ruled Friday. Judge Aleta Trauger awarded $1.98 million in attorneys’ fees and $59,916 in expenses to the plaintiffs, which include Knoxville veterinarians Valeria Tanco and Sophy Jesty. The award, …

The Kentucky GOP’s plan for a separate marriage license for gay couples has been shot down. Via McClatchyDC: Kentucky would have a single marriage license for straight and gay couples under a compromise plan backed by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and the Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee. The proposed form would allow applicants to identify themselves as bride, groom or spouse …

JMG reader Luis reports at The Perchy Bird: In Colombia, several media outlets have reported that a 20-page Constitutional Court opinion that will bring marriage equality to the country is ready and only awaits a meeting to cast a Court vote. According to them, sources close to the Court say that the magistrates will vote against one conservative judge’s proposal …