Marriage Equality

KENTUCKY: Gay Couple Who Made Kim Davis Globally Infamous Gets Married [VIDEO]

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 …

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ALABAMA: State Fights Marriage Battle Fees

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 …

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KENTUCKY: GOP Exploits Kim Davis & Marriage Backlash To Spur Evangelicals In Gubernatorial Race

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 …

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NORTHERN IRELAND: Assembly Approves Same-Sex Marriage But Motion Is Blocked By Unionists

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 …

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LIVE VIDEO: Northern Ireland Assembly Debates Same-Sex Marriage Bill For Fifth Time

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 …

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ISRAEL: Activists Petition Supreme Court For Marriage

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 …

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NORTHERN IRELAND: Assembly To Vote On Same-Sex Marriage For Fifth Time In Five Years

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 …

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MISSISSIPPI: Jackson Newspaper Endorses Marriage Equality Plaintiff Joce Pritchett For State Auditor

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 …

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POLL: Majority Says Kim Davis Should Do Her Job

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 …

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IRELAND: Same-Sex Marriage Signed Into Law

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 …

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ITALY: High Court Orders Mayors To Remove Foreign Same-Sex Marriages From City Registries

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 …

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INDIANA: City Council Candidate Who Opposes LGBT Rights Outed For Gay Dating Site Profile

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 …

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Pat Robertson: Gay Marriage Is Still Illegal [VIDEO]

Today Pat Robertson responding to a viewer question by telling his audience that same-sex marriage is still illegal because the Obergefell ruling only applies to the “couple of people” who brought the case. Brian Tashman has the quote at Right Wing Watch: “In the legal system, party A sues party B over marriage, ‘I want to get married to them,’ …

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Sanders Isn’t Buying Hillary’s DOMA Explanation: Everybody Knew That Law Was Homophobic [VIDEO]

On Thursday, Hillary Clinton told Rachel Maddow that her husband’s signing of the DOMA bill was a “defensive action” meant to ward off a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Bernie Sanders isn’t having it. Via The Hill: “To my mind, I think the evidence is very, very clear that that legislation was anti-gay legislation, it was playing off the fears …

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KENTUCKY: Couple Turned Away By Kim Davis Marries

The Associated Press reports: April Miller and Karen Roberts stood before a minister Saturday night, hand-in-hand, and said the two words they fought for months to exchange. “I will.” The people packed into the room around them jumped into a standing ovation. They all wore matching rainbow buttons that read #LoveWins. The couple, the first denied a license by Kentucky …

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Ben Carson To Glenn Beck: Obergefell Is The Worst Supreme Court Ruling In 20 Years

Via the Washington Examiner: Dr. Ben Carson said Wednesday that the Supreme Court’s June ruling making same-sex marriage legal around the country is the worst decision by the high court in the past 20 years. The former neurosurgeon made the remark during an interview with TheBlaze’s Glenn Beck Wednesday morning during a rapid fire Q&A segment, during which he was …

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SLOVENIA: Constitutional Court Allows National Referendum To Repeal Same-Same Marriage Law

The haters in Slovenia have convinced the Constitutional Court that despite a recently-adopted ban on voting on human rights, there will be a national referendum to repeal same-sex marriage. Via Agence France-Presse: The court’s decision comes after parliament in March adopted a bill giving same-sex couples the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples. A conservative group close to the centre-right …

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Mormon Church Leader Slams Kim Davis: We Shouldn’t Be Having Culture Wars Over Same-Sex Marriage

In a statement that will surely incite evangelical outrage, the head of the Mormon Church has denounced Kim Davis. The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky, cannot use her Christian faith as a justification for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gays, a high-ranking Mormon authority said Tuesday. Public officials “are not free to apply …

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State Department To End Domestic Partners Benefits

Now that marriage equality is the law of the nation, the State Department has announced that it will phase out domestic partners benefits. Via the Washington Blade: Diplomatic and consular posts on Oct. 14 notified Foreign Service personnel that the State Department will begin to phase out the Same-Sex Domestic Partner program on Dec. 14. The SSDP will officially end …

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PENNSYLVANIA: Montgomery County Register Of Deeds Candidate Vows To Become The Next Kim Davis

Back in 2013, Montgomery County Register of Deeds D. Bruce Hanes became a hero to the LGBT movement when he briefly issued same-sex marriage licenses until a court ordered him to stop. Hanes is running for reelection and his GOP opponent, Sharon Valentine-Hanes, has declared that if elected she will obey God and defy SCOTUS on Obergefell. Via the Norristown …

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