Tag Archives: marriage equality

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: During a 2016 Louisiana Senate hearing on an anti-marriage equality measure, the bill’s author, then state Rep. Mike Johnson, found himself in a bit of a political pickle. The bill’s blanket protections for clergy refusing to marry someone because of their religious beliefs had Black and brown lawmakers concerned it would open the door not …

The Dallas Morning News reports: Dianne Hensley felt guilty. sitting behind her desk at the county courthouse in Waco, she could hear someone crying outside her office door. The young woman wanted to get married, Hensley recalled, but she couldn’t find anyone to do the ceremony. It was 2016, the year after the U.S. Supreme Court toppled bans on same-sex …

Reuters reports: India’s top court on Tuesday declined to legalise same-sex marriage and left it to parliament to decide, agreeing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that the legislature is the right forum to rule on the contentious issue. The unanimous order by a five-judge bench came as a huge disappointment to the large LGBTQ community in the world’s most …

The Indian legal site Bar And Bench reports: The Supreme Court will deliver on Tuesday its verdict on whether same-sex marriages should be legally recognised in India. A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha had reserved the verdict on May 11 …

The Associated Press reports: A federal jury has awarded $100,000 to a Kentucky couple who sued former county clerk Kim Davis over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Davis, the former Rowan County clerk, drew international attention when she was briefly jailed in 2015 over her refusal, which she based on her belief that marriage should only …

CNN reports: California voters will have the chance to remove language barring same-sex marriage from their state’s constitution in 2024’s general election. The California Senate passed a proposed constitutional amendment on Thursday that would repeal Proposition 8 – which voters approved in 2008 to ban the state from recognizing same-sex marriages. The state Senate voted 31-0 to repeal the proposition, …

The Texas Tribune reports: Since Waco judge Dianne Hensley received a public warning from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for refusing to perform same-sex marriages in 2019, she’s waged a public battle against the state agency. She’s long claimed the governmental body violated state law by punishing her for actions taken in accordance with her religious faith. Now, she …

The Guardian reports: The leader of Thailand’s pro-reform party, which won the most seats in May’s election, has been blocked from taking power by a parliamentary vote that includes military-appointed senators, a move likely to provoke street protests. Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Move Forward, a progressive party that has a strong youth support base, won the most votes and most …

Bloomberg News reports: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis plans to legalize same-sex marriage, a huge step forward for LGBTQ rights in a region where some conservative governments are cracking down on the community. “Same-sex marriage will happen at some point and it’s part of our strategy,” Mitsotakis, a center-right politician, said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Athens. …

The Associated Press reports: LGBTQ+ rights activists and couples in Nepal on Thursday were celebrating an interim order issued by the country’s Supreme Court enabling the registration of same-sex marriages for the first time. The Supreme Court issued the order on Wednesday allowing for the temporary registration of marriages for same-sex and non-traditional couples. It was not clear when the …

Reuters reports: Estonia’s parliament approved on Tuesday a law to legalise same-sex marriage, making it the first central European country to do so. Same-sex marriage is legal in much of western Europe but not in central European countries which were once under communist rule and members of the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact alliance but now members of NATO and, largely, the …

Politico reports: Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5, which has over 70 co-authors, would place a measure on the November 2024 ballot asking voters to undo Prop 8 and remove language from the California Constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. In part, it’s an effort to correct language that would be unlikely to be adopted today in …

Gallup Polling reports: Seventy-one percent of Americans think same-sex marriage should be legal, matching the high Gallup recorded in 2022. Public support for legally recognizing gay marriages has been consistently above 50% since the early 2010s. When Gallup first polled about same-sex marriage in 1996, barely a quarter of the public (27%) supported legalizing such unions. It would take another …

Reuters reports: The frontrunner to be Thailand’s next prime minister joined a Pride parade in Bangkok on Sunday, promising to pass a law that would allow same-sex marriage and gender identity rights if he becomes premier. Thousands of LGBTQ+ people, their allies and political leaders marched through central Bangkok, marking Pride month and promoting gender equality in the second official …

The Kansas City Star reports: For the second time in a month, an openly gay Missouri Republican lawmaker will face a censure vote from the Jackson County Republican Party for trying to redefine marriage in the state constitution as between “two individuals” instead of “a man and a woman.” The planned censure targets state Rep. Chris Sander, a Lone Jack …

Fox News reports: Leaders of the Catholic Church in Germany must be punished for breaking from the Vatican and approving blessings for same-sex marriages, two cardinals say. Cardinal Raymond Burke of the United States and Cardinal Gerhard Müller of Germany spoke about the de facto schism underway in Germany during an interview with EWTN. “Whether it’s a departure, heretical teaching …

Reuters reports: The ideological parent of India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has backed the government position against recognising same-sex marriage, months after raising hopes with supportive comments on gay rights. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP government has opposed recognising same-sex marriage and urged the Supreme Court to reject challenges to the current legal framework lodged by LGBT …

The New Republic reports: The Tennessee House of Representatives has passed a bill that would allow people to refuse to perform a marriage if they disagree with it. According to the bill, “a person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage if the person has an objection to solemnizing the marriage based on the person’s conscience or religious beliefs.” …

The Japan Times reports: Japan’s leading opposition party submitted to parliament on Monday a bill to legally recognize same-sex marriage in an effort to spur debate on the issue. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s bill proposes amending wording in the country’s Civil Code that has been written on the premise that marriage is a union between partners of different …

Via email from the Family Research Council: The political battle to defend natural marriage is far from over in the nation’s heartland, as Iowa legislators have introduced two bills that would expunge same-sex marriage from state law and declare a national law redefining marriage “null and void.” The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Brad Sherman (R) felt moved to introduce the bill …