Marriage Equality

Done and done! The Irish Independent reports: In a brief ceremony Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Tanaiste Joan Burton officially enacted the historic Marriage Act before a crowd of hundreds. The legislation allows for same-sex weddings from Monday, and was made possible after Ireland became the first country in the world earlier this year to vote for same-sex marriage in …

Gallup estimates that nearly 100,000 same-sex weddings have taken place since the Obergefell ruling, pushing the total number of Americans in a same-sex marriage to nearly one million. They report: The practical legal impact of the Obergefell decision was to invalidate laws in 13 states that did not recognize same-sex marriages. Since then, the percentage of same-sex married couples increased …

From Salt Lake City’s CBS affiliate: The LDS church has clarified to its leaders that being in a same-sex marriage is considered a form of apostasy. The update came to what is known as Handbook #1, which is used as a guide for administering in the church, and is only available to LDS bishops and stake presidents. A screen shot …

The Lexington Courier-Journal reports: Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis has lost another bid to delay issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday denied her latest request for a reprieve. Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage in June. Four couples sued her, and U.S. District …

The Advocate today named the justices of the Supreme Court their “People Of The Year” for 2015. The tagline on the cover notes, “Yes, the whole Supreme Court. Including Scalia.”  Mark Joseph Stern writes in the cover story’s opening: At 10:02 a.m. Eastern on June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court changed America forever. In handing down its decision in …

Yesterday Slovenian lawmakers set December 20th for the national referendum to repeal same-sex marriage. Last month anti-gay groups colluded with the local Catholic Church to convince Slovenia’s Constitutional Court that a vote on repealing same-sex marriage did not violate a recently instituted ban on any public votes on human rights issues. Earlier this year Slovenia’s Parliament voted against a repeal …

And yet another big win in Salt Lake City. From the campaign’s Facebook page: Thank you! Thank you to my family for standing next to me through this campaign, for my volunteers for putting in countless hours knocking on doors, making calls, and talking to their friends. Thank you to all my supporters, your enthusiasm, donations, and moral cheers really …

Republican Matt Bevin, who exploited Kim Davis to order to galvanize evangelicals, decisively won Kentucky’s gubernatorial race tonight, defeating Attorney General Jack Conway, who had refused to defend his state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Bevin’s candidacy was heavily supported across Teabagistan.

The Kentucky couple whose livid videotaped confrontation with Kim Davis catapulted the renegade clerk to global infamy has gotten married. The student newspaper of Morehead State reports: Two months ago, an infuriated David Moore pounded his fist on a counter in the Rowan County Clerk’s office as he pleaded for the right to wed his partner David Ermold. Now “the …

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange has filed an objection to paying the “excessive” $200,000 in legal fees demanded by the attorneys who won same-sex marriage in his state. AL.com reports: Instead, Mobile attorneys Christine Hernandez and David Kennedy – who sought a $275 hourly rate – should be reimbursed about $50,000, according to the filing. The state’s figure factors in …

How entirely unshocking. The Washington Post reports: Trailing narrowly in the polls ahead of tomorrow’s Kentucky gubernatorial election, Republicans are trying to motivate evangelicals by invoking the case of county clerk Kim Davis and the Supreme Court’s decision recognizing gay marriage. Republican Matt Bevin planned to emphasize economic issues in his campaign, but he discovered that voters preferred to talk …

The Northern Ireland Assembly approved same-sex marriage this morning with a very slim majority vote, but the motion failed due to a “petition of concern” presented by the Democratic Unionists Party. The bill was opposed in an open letter issued by the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. An excerpt: We wish to express our particular concern that the motion presented provides …

Northern Ireland’s Assembly convenes at noon local time (7AM Eastern) to consider a same-sex marriage bill for the fifth time since the 2011 election. Watch live here. The Belfast Telegraph reports: When gay marriage was last voted on in June there was only a two-vote difference overall, with the motion defeated by just 49 votes to 47. Last night there …

Israel’s National LGBT Task Force, also known as The Aguda, today filed a same-sex marriage petition with the Supreme Court. The petition, a first for the group, declares that if rabbinical courts continue to refuse to authorize same-sex marriages, the Supreme Court has the authority to order civil courts to do so. The Times Of Israel reports: Israeli marriages are …

Northern Ireland’s Assembly has rejected same-sex marriage four times since the 2011 election. Sometime in the coming weeks they will vote yet again. Pink News reports: Sinn Féin has uged all SDLP members to support a measure to legalise same-sex marriage. Northern Ireland has been criticised for being the only major territory in the UK not to have equal marriage …

The editorial board for the newspaper in Mississippi’s state capital has endorsed marriage equality plaintiff Joce Pritchett [above left] in her bid for state auditor. If elected she would become the first openly gay person to hold office in Mississippi. From the Jackson Clarion-Ledger: Jocelyn “Joce” Pritchett is a civil engineer and business owner with 25 years experience working with …

As the Kim Davis saga continues to plod along in the courts, a poll released today reveals that a majority of Americans oppose religious exemptions for civil servants. The Associated Press reports: Most Americans — 56 percent — now think government officials who issue marriage licenses should be required to issue them to gay and lesbian couples even if they …

Ireland’s same-sex marriage vote has been signed into law and weddings will commence by mid-November. “The Presidential Commission today signed the ‘Marriage Bill 2015’ into law,” the president’s office said in a statement, paving the way for the first weddings within a month. Ireland voted 62.1 percent in favour of allowing marriage between two people “without distinction as to their …

Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has won a battle before Italy’s highest administrative court which will force mayors to remove foreign same-sex marriages from city registries. Last year Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino defied Italian law by registering 16 marriages conducted abroad and his action was followed by several other mayors. The Gazzetta del Sud reports: “Last year my circular banning …

Brent Randall doesn’t want LGBT protections added to the civil rights ordinance of his Indiana town, where he is running for city council as a Republican. And as these things so often go, Randall has been outed for having a profile on Adam4Adam. The Terre Haute Tribune Star reports: A prominent public personality, Randall serves as the radio voice for …