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- 07/03/09: Equal marriage case will go to Supreme Court: attorney
[Source: Reuters]
Excerpt:
The attorney representing two same-sex couples who were denied a right to wed in California said on Thursday he expected the case to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to hear a case on the equal marriage issue.
"When it does get to the United States Supreme Court, we expect to win," Theodore Olson, who was solicitor general under former President George W. Bush, told reporters after the first hearing on federal lawsuit that was filed in May.
[read more at Reuters...]
- 07/02/09: MUST READ: July 2nd Could Spell The Beginning of the End for Prop 8 - The Team Behind the Case
[Source: Pam's House Blend]
Excerpt:
There's been a lot of talk about the case reaching the U.S. Supreme Court, but I wanted to know what had to happen first before it got there. Boutrous helped break it down for me.
First, the case must be heard in the North California U.S. District Court by Judge Vaughn Walker. As mentioned, the hearing begins on July 2nd, and on this day, Judge Walker and the attorneys on both sides of the issue will determine how to "proceed expeditiously to trial."
Second, most likely either side will appeal the ruling if it goes against their liking. In this case, it will then reach the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
It will only be after that ruling will either side appeal to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. But even then, the high court may not hear it. They will have to decide whether or not to take the case certiorari, which is the decision of the court to review a lower court's opinion by "rule of four." This means, four Supreme Court justices have to agree to hear the case.
Though one could never predict how the Supreme Court justices will decide, one major deciding factor tends to be whether or not the lower courts have made opposing decisions favoring one side or the other.
[read more at Pam's House Blend...]
- 07/01/09: Equal marriage stalls as RI lawmakers wrap up
[Source: Boston Herald]
Excerpt:
The lack of Statehouse action on gay equality means that Rhode Island is unlikely to allow equal marriage anytime soon, despite decisions this year by lawmakers in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont joined Connecticut and Massachusetts in legalizing equal marriage.
"I was hoping the momentum that was going around New England and the support we had in the House would get enough representatives to ask for it," said Rep. Frank Ferri, D-Warwick, who is gay and sponsored same-sex marriage legislation. He and his partner wed in Canada.
[read more at Boston Herald...]
- 07/01/09: New Orleans same-sex couple sues for marriage license
[Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune]
Excerpt:
Kristoffer Bonilla and John Thomas Wray argue in a lawsuit that the state has "permanently deprived them of the ability to sanctify their committed relationship and to exercise all of the rights and benefits attendant to marriage."
The couple was turned away by officials at the Orleans Parish marriage license office on April 2 solely because both were men, the lawsuit says.
"We just want a marriage license, " said Bonilla, a law school graduate who is not yet a practicing lawyer. "The people at the office were extremely nice. The cab driver who took us asked to be invited to the wedding."
[read more at New Orleans Times-Picayune...]
- 07/01/09: Judge favors trial soon on Calif. gay marriage ban
[Source: AP]
Excerpt:
Ordinarily, a civil lawsuit could take a year or more to be heard in court. Given Walker's favoring a faster timeline, it would not be unreasonable to expect him to hear the Proposition 8 challenge by the end of the year, Olson said.
[read more at AP...]
- 06/30/09: Prop 8 Goes to Federal Court on Thursday
[Source: LAist]
Excerpt:
Formerly lawyers who fought against each other in the Bush vs. Gore case, Ted Olson and David Boies have joined together to fight Prop 8. They will be asking for "a preliminary motion eeking a temporary and permanent injunction against enforcement of Prop 8 on the grounds that the state constitutional amendment violates the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution."
If approved, gay marriage could temporarily be legal until the a decision was made. However, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who also believes Prop 8 should be stricken, is concerned about such a move. "Staying operation of Proposition 8, without the certainty of a final judgment as to its constitutionality, would leave same-sex couples, as well as their families, friends, and the wider community, in legal limbo," he said
[read more at LAist...]
- 06/29/09: San Francisco federal judge to hear latest legal challenge to Proposition 8
[Source: Mercury News]
Excerpt:
The latest legal challenge to California's voter-approved ban on equal marriage may be a long way from the U.S. Supreme Court, but the first step on a possible path to the high court unfolds this week before a San Francisco federal judge.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on Thursday will consider arguments on whether to block Proposition 8, which amended the California constitution last November and barred gay and lesbian couples from being legally married in the state.
The high-powered challenge to Prop 8 shifts the legal battleground over gay people in California to the federal courts, in the wake of May's ruling from the California Supreme Court upholding the initiative. The state Supreme Court found it did not have the legal authority to overturn a voter-approved constitutional amendment, although the justices refused to invalidate an estimated 18,000 marriages that were licensed before Prop 8 went into effect.
[read more at Mercury News...]
- 06/29/09: 40 Years Later, Still Second-Class Americans
[Source: NY Times]
Excerpt:
In conversations with gay activists on both coasts last week, I heard several theories as to why Obama has seemed alternately clumsy and foot-dragging in honoring his campaign commitments to dismantle DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell. The most charitable take had it that he was following a deliberate strategy, given his habit of pursuing his goals through long-term game plans. After all, he's only five months into his term and must first juggle two wars, the cratered economy, health care and Iran. Some speculated that the president is fearful of crossing preachers, especially black preachers, who are adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage. Still others said that the president was tone-deaf on the issue because his inner White House circle lacks any known gay people.
But the most prevalent theory is that Obama, surrounded by Clinton White House alumni with painful memories, doesn't want to risk gay issues upending his presidency, as they did his predecessor's in 1993. After having promised to lift the ban on gays in the military, Clinton beat a hasty retreat into Don't Ask once Congress and the Pentagon rebelled. This early pratfall became a lasting symbol of his chaotic management style -- and a precursor to another fiasco, Hillarycare, that Obama is also working hard not to emulate.
[read more at NY Times...]
- 06/27/09: Political Shifts on Gay Rights Lag Behind Culture
[Source: NY Times]
Excerpt:
Yet if the culture is moving on, national politics is not, or at least not as rapidly. Mr. Obama has yet to fulfill a campaign promise to repeal the policy barring openly gay people from serving in the military. The prospects that Congress will ever send him a bill overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, appear dim. An effort to extend hate-crime legislation to include gay victims has produced a bitter backlash in some quarters: Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, sent a letter to clerics in his state arguing that it would be destructive to "faith, families and freedom."
"America is changing more quickly than the government," said Linda Ketner, a gay Democrat from South Carolina who came within four percentage points of winning a Congressional seat in November. "They are lagging behind the crowd. But if I remember my poli sci from college, isn't that the way it always works?"
[read more at NY Times...]
- 06/27/09: House Leaders Plot Equal Rights Agenda
[Source: Roll Call]
Excerpt:
After five months of virtual inaction on the equal rights agenda, House Democratic leaders on Wednesday met privately to chart out a strategy for advancing the constituency group's priorities in the 111th Congress.
Headlining the meeting was Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who with her leadership team and the three openly gay Members of Congress -- Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) -- sought to map out a way forward on several key equal rights bills.
According to sources, the Members discussed workplace discrimination, health care benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees and a repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars gays from openly serving in the military. The lawmakers also discussed how to help the Senate pass hate crimes legislation that has already cleared the House.
[read more at Roll Call...]
- 06/26/09: Texans Support Couple Recognition
[Source: Box Turtle Bulletin]
Excerpt:
Most Texans don't oppose equal unions, but they're split in their support for marriage or civil unions. While more than a third (36%) oppose either arrangement, 32% said they would support civil unions and another 25% think equal marriage should be permitted.
[read more at Box Turtle Bulletin...]
- 06/26/09: Yes on Equality may collect petition signatures for second version of marriage-equality initiative: Will a stronger religious-liberty clause emerge?
[Source: Legal Commentary on Proposition 8 and the Right to Marry]
Excerpt:
I did not consider that Yes on Equality, the Initiative's proponent, has had opportunity since late January to remedy arguable deficiencies in the religious-liberty provision. Charles Lowe proposed the Initiative's language with the help of attorneys. In this June 11th Bay Area Reporter article, he says that he would be "very surprised if what we filed wound up being what is used." Are further changes still planned or - at least under consideration - to preempt or undercut religious opposition, by strengthening the religious-liberty provision?
[read more at Legal Commentary on Proposition 8 and the Right to Marry...]
- 06/26/09: Marriage supporters need 1,000 voters a day
[Source: Bay Area Reporter]
Excerpt:
Based on results of the private poll done for a coalition of LGBT and allied organizations in May, number crunchers at Marriage Equality USA have determined that if a Prop 8 repeal measure is on the November 2010 ballot, the campaign needs 999 new supporters a day. That number drops to 453 new supporters a day should proponents wait until November 2012.
[read more at Bay Area Reporter...]
- 06/26/09: Joe Biden reaches out to gay community
[Source: Politico]
Excerpt:
Speaking at a LGBT fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, Biden acknowledged the anger many gays and lesbians have toward the White House, and he pledged to "put some pace on the ball."
"I don't blame you for your impatience," Biden said. "I hope you don't doubt the president's commitment."
[read more at Politico...]
- 06/24/09: NY Governor Calls Senate To Wednesday Special Session -- Equal Marriage Vote Tops Agenda
[Source: Outcome Buffalo]
Excerpt:
Governor David Paterson has called for the New York State Senate to vote on same-sex marriage legislation at an extraordinary legislative session tomorrow, June 24, 2009. All 62 members of the New York State Senate are legally obligated to attend anextraordinary session called by the Governor.
[read more at Outcome Buffalo...]
- 06/24/09: New England's Equal Marriage Compromise
[Source: National Journal]
Excerpt:
The equal-marriage lobby is making political calculations of its own. Some advocates view exemptions as temporarily convenient and don't think they'll need to tolerate them forever. Just as increasing public support for gay people in recent years has made civil unions unsatisfactory to the movement, it's hard to imagine that if equal marriage were to gain overwhelming support in New England some equal rights activists wouldn't lobby to remove state-sanctioned religious discrimination.
[read more at National Journal...]
- 06/22/09: White House Staffers Concede 'Frustration' Over Administration's Slow Action On Gay Rights
[Source: Think Progress]
Excerpt:
Brown conceded that the administration is "moving slowly" on gay rights. "Nobody thinks it's fast enough right now, but I know the President cares about this. ... It's going in the right direction, if not quickly enough." Klain agreed with Brown. "I understand the frustration," he said.
[read more at Think Progress...]
- 06/21/09: Maine: Equal-marriage law fuels 'huge' turnout
[Source: Portland Press Herald]
Excerpt:
A large crowd lined Congress Street and the route to Deering Oaks on Saturday for the first Southern Maine Pride Parade since Maine's lawmakers voted to allow gays and lesbians to marry in the state.
Although the marriage law is still not in effect and opponents are gathering signatures to try to force a vote on the issue, Maine's decision to join a growing list of states allowing gay people to marry gave this year's parade and other events a little extra meaning. That helped draw a larger crowd than in the past.
Monument Square was filled with people, including a large group that carried a long rainbow banner in the parade. The sidewalks were packed with people cheering various organizations. In some spots the crowd was four and five deep.
[read more at Portland Press Herald...]
- 06/21/09: California equal marriage fight goes to Chinatown
[Source: Reuters]
Excerpt:
Asian Americans have been building grass-roots support in Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Filipinotown for four years. Gays, lesbians and straight allies have talked about the often-taboo topic of homosexuality, set up booths at festivals, harangued non-English language media to change coverage and lobbied elected officials for support.
"What we felt we had to do is talk to people who aren't on our side. So that's why we do these crazy things like walk through the streets of Chinatown as part of the New Year's Parade. That's why we go out to festivals from Little India to Little Tokyo and talk to complete strangers," said Marshall Wong, co-chair of Asia Pacific Islander group API Equality.
[read more at Reuters...]
- 06/21/09: Schwarzenegger decides against defending Prop. 8 in federal court
[Source: LA Times]
Excerpt:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declined to defend the constitutionality of Proposition 8, telling a San Francisco judge that the legality of the anti-equal marriage measure is for the courts to decide.
The governor's decision to remain neutral in a federal challenge to Proposition 8 means no statewide official will be defending the measure in federal court.
[read more at LA Times...]
- 06/21/09: Herrera Files Amicus Brief in Support of Federal Challenge to Proposition 8
[Source: Press Release]
Excerpt:
City Attorney Dennis Herrera today filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco in support of a federal lawsuit brought by two California couples challenging the validity of Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment that eliminated the fundamental right of marriage for gay and lesbian citizens in California.
[read more at Press Release...]
- 06/21/09: Campaign to save Maine's marriage law is launched. Opponents hired Yes on Prop. 8 campaign manager to kill our rights
[Source: Freedom to Marry]
Excerpt:
The political action committee running the campaign will be called "Maine Freedom to Marry." Meanwhile, the Press Herald confirmed that our opponents in Maine are going to hire the firm of Frank Schubert, who ran the Yes on Prop. 8 campaign in California. Schubert knows where to find money, so Maine Freedom to Marry needs our help and our support.
[read more at Freedom to Marry...]
- 06/21/09: Why the Gay Rights Movement Has No National Leader
[Source: NY Times]
Excerpt:
One explanation is that gay and lesbian activists learned early on that they could get along just fine without one. Even in the movement's earliest days following the violent uprising at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village 40 years ago this week, no singular leader emerged. Some historians believe this is in part because it was -- and still is -- difficult for the average American to empathize with the struggles of gay people.
[read more at NY Times...]
- 06/21/09: White House: Census to better count gay couples
[Source: AP]
Excerpt:
U.S. Census Bureau officials said Friday that married same-sex couples will be counted as such in the 2010 national tally, reversing an earlier decision made under the Bush administration.
Steve Jost, a spokesman for the Census Bureau, said officials already were identifying the technical changes needed to ensure the reliability of the information, but remained committed to providing an accurate tally of gay spouses.
[read more at AP...]
- 06/21/09: Vermont: Thank Senator Shumlin for his principled stand for fairness and equality!
[Source: Vermont Free to Marry]
Excerpt:
In light of the Obama Administration's failure to take action to repeal the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," and in the wake of the Obama Administration's recent legal defense of "DOMA" in the courts -- invoking an analogy between homosexuality and incest -- Senator Shumlin has withdrawn from participation in his party's fundraiser
[read more at Vermont Free to Marry...]
- 06/21/09: NY Bar Association Votes To Support Equal Marriage
[Source: WCBS]
Excerpt:
Delegates for the association adopted a resolution Saturday asking state legislators to give full marriage rights to same-sex couples.
[read more at WCBS...]
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