Tag Archives: Montana

Via the Associated Press: Four gay couples are suing Montana over its constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. That leaves North Dakota and South Dakota as the only two states with gay marriage bans and no lawsuits seeking to overturn them. The Montana lawsuit was being filed Wednesday in federal court in Great Falls, with help from the Montana ACLU. It …

Via Good As You.

Montana’s Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena yesterday filed for bankruptcy protection as it settles molestation lawsuits filed on behalf of hundreds of children. “The settlement here will be as much help financially as we can offer to claimants,” the spokesman, Dan Bartleson, told NBCNews.com. “And the bankruptcy puts us in a place at the diocese where we can care for …

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia blathered his usual crapola before a room packed with wingnuts in Montana yesterday. “It’s not up to the courts to invent new minorities that get special protections,” Scalia said to the audience at a Federalist Society event in Bozeman, Mt., presumably talking about the Court’s recent rulings on marriage equality. When the Court ruled against …

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Montana on behalf of seven gay couples who have been denied the benefits of marriage. The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana filed its amended complaint after the state Supreme Court rejected its first lawsuit in December for being too broad and not identifying specific laws that are discriminatory. In the amended lawsuit, …

The New York Times is wondering what Ken Mehlman’s legacy will be regarding LGBT rights. Mr. Mehlman, 46, remains the hyper-intense, guarded strategist he was in his Bush days, with the same habit of looking past people instead of meeting their eyes. He shuns most interviews and still deflects personal questions, as he did back when rumors about his sexuality …

The Washington Post reports: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is retiring rather than seek re-election in 2014, according to two senior Democratic strategists familiar with his plans. First elected in 1978, Baucus has been the top Democrat on the powerful committee since 2001. The likely Democratic candidate to succeed him would be former governor Brian Schweitzer, sources said. …

Montana’s governor has signed the bill repealing the state’s ban on sodomy. When Montana Gov. Steve Bullock signed Senate Bill 107 decriminalizing gay sex, cheers erupted in the Capitol’s Rotunda. It had been 16 years after the state Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional and 24 years after gay rights activists began their fight to take government out of the …

Zack Ford has the news at Think Progress: “Just now, the Montana House held its third and final vote on SB 107, a bill to repeal the state’s unconstitutional sodomy law. The final vote was 64-36, meaning there were still 36 lawmakers who believes that gay sex should remain criminal under law.”  The Montana Senate repealed the ban in January …

Openly gay Montana state Rep. Bryce Bennett yesterday introduced a bill to formally decriminalize gay sex in his state. “Under this law, I am considered a felon,” Bennett said. “I am not your equal.” Bennett said that even though he won’t be prosecuted, he still feels the law’s “sting” and resents that Montana law classifies gay sex as sexual deviance, …

From Montana’s Cowgirl Blog: “Jennifer Olsen is the leader of Montana’s largest TEA Party faction, the Yellowstone County Montana Shrugged TEA Party. She’s also the chair of the Republican party in Billings, the Yellowstone County Republican Central Committee.” This story actually broke about ten days ago, but I just got the tip from JMG reader Win.

Montana’s capital city yesterday unanimously approved broad anti-discrimination protections for LGBT residents. In a unanimous vote Monday night, the Helena City Commission passed an ordinance to prohibit discrimination in housing, employment and many kinds of public accommodation based on sexual orientation. Hundreds of people turning out to support or oppose the measure, with the commission opening two additional rooms in …

The Montana state Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of a lower court’s ruling that gay couples are not entitled to the same benefits as married straight couples. The court wrote in Monday’s 4-3 decision the request was “overly broad” and sided with a lower court’s decision last year to dismiss the lawsuit. But the Supreme Court left …

Talking Points Memo has the story: Outside the Montana state Republican Party convention this weekend was an outhouse labeled the “Obama Presidential Library” and covered in painted-on bullet holes. Inside the outhouse contained a fake birth certificate for Barack Hussein Obama, according to the Helena Independent Record. It was stamped “Bull——.” A graffito advised “For a Good Time call 800-Michelle …

Source.

Montana Democrat Dave Strohmaier has gotten on our radar with this ad launching his campaign for Congress.

On Friday the Montana Supreme Court will hear the case of six same-sex couples who have sued to have their partners covered by their package of employee benefits. The Montana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Donaldson & Guggenheim, et al. v. State of Montana on Friday at the University of Montana. The session will start …

Anti-gay activist Pastor Harris Himes, who yesterday surrendered in Montana on six felony fraud counts, told reporters that it was the gays (and others) who set him up. Himes was required to surrender his passport and will next appear in District Court on either Oct. 6 or Oct. 20. He didn’t keep a low profile after leaving the Ravalli County …

Pastor Harris Himes (above, at the microphone), the most well-known anti-gay activist in Montana, has been charged with six felony counts of theft and fraud related to a business scheme he allegedly orchestrated with another pastor. Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said Harris Himes turned himself in Wednesday morning after learning that there was a warrant for his arrest. District …

She’s totally a closeted lesbian. So says my very trusted tipster who adds this about Montana state GOP Rep. Kristin Hansen: “She lives with a woman who she introduces to others as her ‘friend’ but has confirmed to a handful of people is her partner. The partner’s ex has also been telling people what’s up.” Hansen was first elected to …