Marriage Equality

Furious with Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s threat to fire party leaders who vote for same-sex marriage, this Saturday activists will rally in Melbourne. Via press release: This Saturday over 20,000 people will head into the Melbourne CBD to show their anger at Abbott’s manoeuvring to maintain homophobic discrimination in Australian law. Five reasons to join us and rally: 1. Eleven …

A federal court ruled this afternoon that Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis must issue same-sex marriage licenses. The Lexington Herald Leader reports: A federal judge ordered Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis on Wednesday to resume issuing marriage licenses despite her religious objection to same-sex marriage. U.S. District Judge David Bunning granted a preliminary injunction against Davis that was requested by …

Labor MP Tim Watts has made waves in Australia with a passionate marriage equality speech about his uncles who could never marry. From the Sydney Morning Herald: A Labor MP has attacked the Coalition government’s Senate leader Eric Abetz as an “anachronistic joke” in an impassioned speech recounting the story of a gay uncle who died of AIDS without the …

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott today threatened to fire party leaders who “break ranks” and vote for same-sex marriage. Nine News reports: The Prime Minister was responding to a potential vote on the legalisation of same-sex marriage, if MP Warren Entsch were to successfully introduce a cross-party bill to parliament this morning. “It is … the standard position of our …

The anti-gay nutters at Marriage Alliance probably aren’t too happy about their poll. From the good guys: Marriage equality advocates have welcomed a new poll showing almost 60% of Australians believe marriage equality is a medium to high priority. The poll, conducted for anti-marriage equality group, the Marriage Alliance, found that marriage equality is, on average, the 13th most important …

Ohio Judge Allen McConnell has lost his battle not to marry gay couples. The Star-Tribune reports: Judges who perform marriages in Ohio can’t refuse to marry same-sex couples on personal or moral grounds or because of religious beliefs, according to a state judicial conduct board. In addition, judges who stop performing all marriages to avoid marrying same-sex couples may be …

From the Dallas NBC affiliate: A lawyer says Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton no longer faces a contempt of court hearing after the state agreed to update vital record policies for same-sex couples. The cancellation Monday means that Paxton must no longer appear before a federal judge and possibly be held in contempt over whether Texas has impeded gay rights …

BOOM! The Associated Press reports: A federal judge ordered South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson on Monday to pay more than $135,000 in legal fees for a couple who challenged the state ban on same-sex marriage. Wilson must reimburse seven attorneys a total of $130,600 for 390 hours of work, or nearly 90 percent of what they requested. Judge Richard …

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: Coalition MPs are holed up at Parliament House in a marathon meeting to debate same-sex marriage. Prime Minister Tony Abbott called a special joint Liberal-National parties meeting on Tuesday afternoon so government MPs could discuss whether they should have a free vote on the reform. However the decision to include National MPs – who are …

Via the Associated Press: Thousands of flowers have been placed in front of Parliament House from Australians who want to thank Tony Abbott for standing by traditional marriage. But the prime minister was unable to personally accept their thanks. The gesture was organised by the Christian Federation, which has called for a civil conversation on changing the Marriage Act. “There …

The Detroit News reports: Embattled state Rep. Todd Courser, R-Lapeer, sent his own audio tape early Monday morning, saying he sent a false e-mail about paying for gay sex because he was being blackmailed. The long and rambling audio tape blames his former staffers, Ben Graham, Josh Cline and Keith Allard, for colluding with the Lansing “mafia” establishment to bring …

Australia’s News Corp outlet reports: Foxtel is facing a backlash from some subscribers after it decided to screen advertisements opposing same-sex marriage. The ads, created by anti-gay marriage group Marriage Alliance, were knocked back by the Seven and Ten networks but have been screened by the pay TV provider. People took to Facebook to vent their anger, with many saying …

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: Canberra Airport has been lit up in rainbow colours to greet federal MPs flying into the capital, ahead of the introduction of a cross-party bill to support gay marriage expected this fortnight. And Australian Marriage Equality’s new national campaign slogan, #WeCanDoThis, is also on display with hopes the momentum in the community for same-sex marriage …