Tag Archives: marriage equality

BOOM. Another win for Roberta Kaplan. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A federal appeals court on Friday denied Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant’s request that the state be allowed to enforce a recently passed anti-LGBT religious exemption law while the state appeals a trial court’s order halting enforcement of that law. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in denying the request …

Any professional fundraiser will tell you that the best way guarantee donations is to tell your supporters how much they suck for not sending enough. From Brian Brown: NOM began our critical Summer Membership Drive on July 22nd. We’re now three weeks into our drive — the halfway point — and we have only received 256 contributions from our members. …

A very late update from AL.com: Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore will go on trial next month on judicial ethics charges after the Alabama Court of the Judiciary late Monday issued an order that denied Moore’s request to dismiss the charges. The court, in a brief one-page order, also denied a motion by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission …

Roughly translated from ABC España: The gold medal-winning Australian female rugby delegation isn’t alone in celebrating. Isadora Cerullo, who plays for Brazil, tonight received a marriage proposal from her partner, who works as a volunteer for the Rio Games. The proposal was accepted and sealed with a kiss in front of journalists from around the world. The proposal took place …

ABC News reports: Alabama’s Court of the Judiciary said it will soon decide whether to remove Alabama’s suspended chief justice, Roy Moore, from office after hearing Monday from both sides on his misconduct charges. Moore is accused of violating judicial ethics by urging probate judges to defy the federal courts and keep denying marriage licenses to gays and lesbians, months …

The Associated Press reports: An Alabama probate judge accused of sending sexually charged messages and nude photos to a woman he met when she went to his office to wed another man has agreed to a six-month unpaid suspension, his lawyer said Thursday. Tallapoosa County Probate Judge Leon Archer regrets his actions and cooperated fully with a probe that resulted …

The Associated Press reports: Roughly 5 percent of North Carolina’s magistrates are refusing to marry same-sex couples for religious reasons, and lawyers for the state say people suing in federal court have no standing to challenge these opt-outs as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn scheduled a hearing for Monday in Asheville in part to consider a motion by the …

Via press release: Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, revealed a new billboard off I-85 calling out disgraced, notoriously anti-LGBTQ Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. The billboard, which reads “#NoMoore: Dismiss Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore” goes up as Moore, suspended from the …

Donald Trump is the true friend of the LGBT community, not Hillary Clinton, and spoke-nutjob Katrina Pierson has parroted those words many times. Oh, but wait. Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: But Pierson, the official national campaign spokesperson for the Trump campaign, did not express such warm sentiments to gays in 2012. “Gay is not normal, accept that,” she said …

ABC News reports: Vice President Joe Biden officiated his first wedding ever — and it was for a same sex couple. Biden officiated over the wedding of two longtime White House staffers, Brian Mosteller and Joe Mahshie, at the Naval Observatory on Monday, his office said. Posting a photo of the ceremony on Twitter, Biden wrote, “Proud to marry Brian …

Two weeks ago the Family Research Council abruptly withdrew its support for the so-called First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) because of new language that also legalizes discrimination against married straight couples on the basis of “religious belief or moral conviction.” Last week the Liberty Counsel did the same. Today the American Family Association becomes the third anti-LGBT hate group to …

Two days ago I reported that anti-gay groups affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Church won a court ruling in Romania that will allow a national referendum on a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Today the Liberty Counsel takes credit. Via press release: In a major victory for natural marriage and the right of Romanian citizens to determine their own destiny, …

While still a Hawaii state rep, Takai played a critical part in the 2013 passage of his state’s same-sex marriage bill. He was elected to the US House in 2014. NBC News reports: U.S. Congressman Mark Takai, who served as the representative for Hawaii’s first district, has died, NBC News has confirmed. Takai, 49, announced in May he would not …

From the Associated Press: Romania’s Constitutional Court has ruled that a request from an anti-gay group to change the constitution to state that marriage is a union between a man and a woman is constitutional. The court’s ruling Wednesday paves the way for Romania’s Parliament to vote to change the constitution, last revised in 2003, which now says marriage is …

Politico reports: When it comes to Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s opinion on the Republican Party’s platform opposition to same-sex marriage, the Republican governor had just three words Tuesday night, despite his own state’s previous opposition to the law: The Supreme Court. “The Supreme Court has already made a decision,” Scott told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, referring to the shooting …

AL.com reports: The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission on Friday responded to suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s efforts to have the judicial ethics charges against him dismissed. Instead of dismissing the charges, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary should issue a summary judgment in its favor and remove Moore now from the bench, the JIC states in its response. “This …

Via press release from the ACLU: A federal appeals court today dismissed Kim Davis’s appeals in the Rowan County marriage licensing case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Miller v. Davis left in place the order that found Davis in contempt. ACLU LGBT Project Staff Attorney Ria Tabacco Mar has this comment: “Kentucky’s new marriage law …

Yesterday the House Oversight Committee held a five-hour hearing on the so-called First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), which would bar the federal government from acting against businesses or individuals who discriminate against LGBT Americans on the basis of “religious belief or moral conviction.” Among the witnesses were “experts” from several viciously anti-LGBT hate groups including the Heritage Foundation, the Witherspoon …

Vanity Fair recaps: Sick of the summer box-office doldrums? Focus Features is here to bolster your belief in important, non-franchise filmmaking with the first trailer for Loving, a powerful biopic about Richard and Mildred Loving—the interracial couple who changed the course of American history by fighting for their right to be married in the 1960s. From filmmaker Jeff Nichols, Loving …

The CBC reports: Questions about the integrity of the voting process in which Anglicans narrowly rejected a resolution to allow same-sex marriage emerged Tuesday, leading to a stunning reversal of the result. Some members stood up to say their votes had not been recorded during voting late Monday — when passage of the resolution failed by a single vote. “That …