Marriage Equality

Gay Star News reports: Ecuador has voted in favor of marriage equality in a landmark ruling today (12 June). Confirming the hopes of local activists, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage in the country. Today’s ruling centered on whether the Inter-American Court Ruling of January 2018, which recognized same-sex marriage, compels Ecuador to legalize same-sex marriage. Judges …

The Birmingham News reports: The Alabama House of Representatives gave final passage today to a bill that would end the issuance of marriage licenses by probate judges and instead have them record documents that would serve as the official records of marriage. The bill goes to Gov. Kay Ivey, who could sign it into law. The legislation came in response …

The CBC reports: More than 360 same-sex couples tied the knot in emotional scenes in Taiwan on Friday, the first legal marriages in Asia hailed by activists as a social revolution for the region. The government data was released after Taiwan’s parliament passed a bill last week that endorsed same-sex marriage, although the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wen’s bid …

USA Today reports: During an interview with the president, Fox News host Steve Hilton commented how he thinks it’s great to see Buttigieg on stage with his husband as the couple normalizes same-sex marriage amidst the ever-present media spotlight of a presidential campaign. “I think it’s absolutely fine,” Trump replied. “I do.” Hilton noted that it’s “a sign of great …

The New York Times reports: As tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the rainy streets of Taipei on Friday, lawmakers in Taiwan voted to legalize same-sex marriage, a first for Asia. “We want to marry!” supporters outside the legislature chanted in approval of the measure, as they applauded and waved signs and rainbow banners. “On May 17th, 2019 in #Taiwan, …

The Birmingham Herald reports: A bill to eliminate marriage licenses in Alabama and instead have couples file an affidavit that probate judges would record as part of a marriage document moved a step close to becoming law today. The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill by Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range. Albritton has tried to pass similar bills since the U.S. …

Penn Live reports: Few central Pennsylvania destinations are as iconic as the Star Barn. The historic structure – part of Stone Gables Estate – sits on a sprawling 275-acre scenic tract in Elizabethtown, surrounded by farmland, an orchard and vineyard. It has become a premier wedding destination. Now, just in time for wedding season, the landmark venue is at the …

The Cayman Compass reports: Same-sex marriage is legal in the Cayman Islands after a landmark judgment in Grand Court this morning. Chief Justice Anthony Smellie ruled that the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman was unconstitutional and violated multiple rights. He ordered that the local law be changed to reflect that same-sex couples are allowed equal …

The Montgomery Advertiser reports: The Alabama Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would eliminate marriage licenses and the need to solemnize marriages. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, passed 26 to 0. It moves onto the House. Albritton, who first filed the bill in 2015, said it “takes the state out of granting permission, saying who can …

NBC News reports: In 1971, gay couple Michael McConnell and Jack Baker applied for a marriage license from Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The clerk, not realizing one of the individuals listed on the application was male, issued the license — though stopped short of officially recording it. Nearly five decades later — after a prolonged legal battle to get their …

Over at the Friendly Atheist, our friend Hemant Mehta reports that right wing lawmakers are wasting no time in pushing an anti-LGBT and Christianist agenda now that Jair Bolsonaro is in power. There’s a system in Brazil that allows old bills to essentially get resurrected by their sponsors even if they didn’t become laws in the past. By “dearchiving” those …

The Texas Tribune reports: A Houston judge has thrown out the six-year-old lawsuit a pair of Houston taxpayers filed to keep the city from paying spousal benefits to the same-sex spouses of municipal employees. But the long-running legal saga is long from over, according to the side that was handed a loss this week. The lawsuit dates back to 2013, …

The Kyodo News reports: Thirteen same-sex couples demanding marriage equality filed lawsuits against the government at district courts across Japan on Valentine’s Day on Thursday, arguing that its refusal to allow them to marry is unconstitutional and discriminatory. Each of the 26 plaintiffs is seeking 1 million yen ($9,000) in compensation, claiming that the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage …

USA Today reports: A group of state representatives in Kansas introduced legislation Wednesday that seeks to define same-sex marriage as “parody marriage,” stop the state from recognizing gay marriage and establish an “elevated marriage” option for straight couples who seek “higher standards of commitment.” One of the two bills introduced contends LGBTQ people are aligned with the secular humanism movement, …

The Tennessean reports: After failing to advance last session, Republicans have again filed legislation to keep Tennessee from permitting same-sex marriages, a bill officials previously estimated could cost the state more than $9 billion in federal funding. Known as the “Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act,” the bill by Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, and Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, states that …

Our friends at St. Martin’s Press have provided JMG readers with an exclusive first look at the coming memoir of late LGBT activist and marriage equality champion Edith Windsor: Edie Windsor became internationally famous when the Supreme Court ruled in her favor in her case seeking recognition from the US government for her marriage to her partner Thea Spyer. The …

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: Citing “conduct that violates civil rights,” lawyers for Gov. Matt Bevin say former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis should be held responsible for nearly $225,000 in legal fees and court costs incurred by couples who sued her in 2015 when she refused to issue marriage licenses because of her religious opposition to same-sex marriage. Although Bevin, …

The Associated Press reports: Two Austrian women are the first same-sex couple to officially tie the knot in the predominantly Catholic country, following years of legal challenges from gay rights groups. Austria’s constitutional court ruled in 2017 that same-sex couples should have the right to marry from Jan. 1, 2019. Previously, same-sex couples could only enter into a registered partnership …

The Associated Press reports: Cuba’s government said Tuesday that language promoting the legalization of gay marriage will be removed from the draft of a new constitution after widespread popular rejection of the idea. Gay rights advocates had proposed eliminating the description of marriage as a union of a man and woman, changing it to the union of “two people … …

The Taiwan News reports: Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan Secretary-General publicly announced today that the passage of anti-equality referendums cannot override the Constitutional Court’s 2017 ruling on same-sex marriage. Secretary-General Lu Tai-lang clarified what has already been stressed by many keen legal observers: interpretations made by the Constitutional Court hold the highest rule of law and cannot be defeated by referendums. The …