What is new on the Gay Marriage front?

[CoolBlue71]

Michigan has a comfortable majority in favor, as much as 57% according to the latest poll, while Pennsylvania has a slight one.

You do not need your legislature. Michigan is an initiated amendment state. I would actually argue that one should go before this year's ballot. The support looks higher in your state than in Oregon!

However, there is also an upcoming trial scheduled for February 25 that would make such a campaign unnecessary in the event that a pro-gay ruling survives appellate review. In any event, there is no way the ban in your state will survive past 2016, if the Supreme Court does not get there first.

I trust that what I wrote wasn't lost on you.

Michigan should have been done already. Hopefully the ban ends with this current year of 2014. (Same goes with Pennsylvania.)

 

[Ninja108]

Pennsylvania might be a blue state for president but go outside the major cities and you'll be met with what is known as Pennsltucky. There are very,very,VERY red parts of the state that can put the bigots of the South to shame.

 

[Alnitak]

A bit on the cases in Virginia

Va. quickly emerging as key battleground state in marriage equality fight

 

[Alnitak]

West Virginia is also a state with pending motions for immediate relief. County clerks weigh in:

County clerks mull possible same-sex marriage changes

"I'm against same-sex marriages. I'm against it, simple as that," said Wayne County Clerk Renick Booth. "I don't know what I'm going to do, I guess I'll cross that bridge when it happens."

Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood said if Chambers strikes down the state's ban on same-sex marriage, he wouldn't have a problem following the law.

This last one is a specious argument we have seen in Utah:

Gary Williams, the clerk of Boone County, agreed that he would follow the law, but said he'd consult with the county's prosecuting attorney first to be clear on what the law is.

"I'd go straight to the prosecuting attorney and ask him what we needed to do. It's just our job to do whatever the law says," Williams said.

I expect most conservative states, such as Utah and West Virginia, will have instances where very anti-gay clerks just throw their hands up and play dumb, "wait for further instructions," and the like. Bullshit, these people know exactly what they are doing. Clerks are not ignorant about what federal rulings are and do, and the act of refusing the effect of an explicit court order is both unlawful and potentially contempt at the pleasure of the court. In Utah County, and some others, only the threat of civil rights lawsuits and contempt of court got those clerks to back down and issue the licenses.

 

[Kulindahr]

And meanwhile, in the Sixth Circuit, Judge Black's ruling last month is being appealed by the State of Ohio.... and of course the challenger for the position of Attorney General, from which office the appeal decision came, is calling on the AG to drop it.

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/01/...ecognize-gay-marriages-on-death-certificates/
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/01/...es-ohio-ag-to-drop-appeal-of-marriage-ruling/

 

[Alnitak]

And meanwhile, in the Sixth Circuit, Judge Black's ruling last month is being appealed by the State of Ohio.... and of course the challenger for the position of Attorney General, from which office the appeal decision came, is calling on the AG to drop it.

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/01/...ecognize-gay-marriages-on-death-certificates/
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/01/...es-ohio-ag-to-drop-appeal-of-marriage-ruling/

We hope the same will happen in Virginia, but Herring's spokesman just said he is exploring his options or something to that effect.

 

[Alnitak]

Great summary on Utah and Oklahoma


Final gay marriage decision long way off

So with Utah's case getting there first, what the 10th Circuit does with it will decide what happens in the Oklahoma case, Holladay said.
If the court goes ahead and rules one way or another on the Utah case, the Oklahoma appeal would likely get a "summary judgment," basically applying the Utah ruling to it.
But the 10th Circuit could consolidate both cases and hear them together, giving all sides a chance to make arguments, Holladay said.

The Utah and Oklahoma cases will give [the justices] another chance. Whatever the 10th Circuit decides, the losing side will inevitably appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Blair said.
But will the court agree to hear the case? That might depend on some careful calculations, Blair said.
"Some of the liberal justices, who might be inclined to strike down bans on gay marriage," she said, "might not want to take the case if they don't think they have the votes."

 

[Kulindahr]

We hope the same will happen in Virginia, but Herring's spokesman just said he is exploring his options or something to that effect.

Sometimes Republican elected officials make this come to mind:

 

[Alnitak]

NCLR files marriage equality lawsuit in Florida state court

This morning, six same-sex couples living in Miami, Florida, filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. The six couples are joined by Equality Florida, the state’s LGBT advocacy organization.

...

The case is captioned as Pareto v. Ruvin.

Complaint

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is also suing in Tennessee, Idaho, and recently in Utah. Previously it won the case in New Mexico and represented the plaintiffs in Illinois' lawsuit.

In total, this will be the 26th lawsuit and 19th state where gay couples are currently seeking the right to marry.

 

[White Eagle]

Ya beat me to it but I found another link:

http://www.nclrights.org/cases-and-policy/cases-and-advocacy/pareto_v_ruvin/

Case Summary & History
Family & Relationships
Pareto v. Ruvin
STATUS: Pending, Florida
On January 21, 2014, six same-sex couples and Equality Florida Institute filed a lawsuit in Florida state court in Miami seeking the freedom to marry. The lawsuit argues that Florida’s laws barring same-sex couples from marriage violate the United States Constitution by denying them the legal protections and equal dignity that having the freedom to marry provides.

 

[Alnitak]

Ya beat me to it but I found another link:

http://www.nclrights.org/cases-and-policy/cases-and-advocacy/pareto_v_ruvin/

Thanks.

All but one of the couples have children among a range of ages. That is critical. When Justice Kennedy criticized the effect of DOMA he said it inequitably "humiliates" the children of gay couples. While marriage strictly speaking is not just about children, it does help for judges on the fence who do necessarily connect marriage and raising kids.

 

[Alnitak]

Conservatives in Florida might be secretly engineering a defeat at the polls just to embarrass us and/or disrupt momentum our way. A mysterious Republican operative is attempting to repeal the state's constitutional amendment without disclosing how or why she is doing it. Details by Ned Flaherty: http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.co...-2014-parts-1-and-2/politics/2014/01/20/81808

Enter Vanessa Brito, a Republican political consultant in Miami, Florida. Last June, with donations from former Republican Governor of New Mexico and Republican/Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, and with expertise from GOP political strategist Tim Mooney, Vanessa Brito established Florida Political Action Committee #60477, and named it Equal Marriage Florida (EMFL).
...
Thirteen Florida organizations quickly rejected Brito’s plan, which they deemed costly, psychologically harmful, and doomed at the polls. They feared that such a loss would needlessly postpone LGBT rights in Florida, and as well as break the nationwide winning streak.

 

[Alnitak]

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that courts could not exclude gay jurors, but the upshot was the institution of heightened scrutiny for laws discriminating based on sexual orientation, See Federal Appeals Court Ruling Could Change The Game On Gay Rights.

That court is also currently considering Sevcik v. Sandoval, a challenge to Nevada's ban on marriage equality. Fortuitously on the same day as the jury decision, the anti-gay respondents in Sevcik filed a brief that relied much on the lower standard of review that the Supreme Court allowed in June, which is now distinguished:

...the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling Tuesday declaring that sexual orientation is deserving of “heightened scrutiny,” meaning that the government must meet a greater burden to justify discrimination against people who may be lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Thus, many of [the opposing lawyer's] arguments are now moot because the precedents have changed.

Keeping classy, he also compares us to...

White supremacists engrafted the anti-miscegenation rules onto the marriage institution — and thereby altered marriage from how it had existed at common law and throughout the millennia — to bend that institution into the new and foreign role of inculcating white supremacist doctrines into the consciousness of the people generally.
...
Where does one see today a similar massive political effort to profoundly change the marriage institution in order to bend it into a new and foreign role, one in important ways at odds with its ancient and essential roles? Answer: The genderless marriage movement.

Nevada Conservatives To Ninth Circuit: Marriage Equality Is Just Like White Supremacy

Is that supposed to persuade a judge? Really? Wow... and at the 9th Circuit at that. I wouldn't be surprised if the judges deciding Sevcik just shut the dossier and decided not to listen to this drivel any longer.

The Nevada case currently working its way on appeal is nearly finished a new round of briefing, which will conclude on Monday, February 3. The case from Utah before the 10th Circuit is just a month behind, its briefing scheduling concluding on March 4. Oral arguments in both cases are expected to be scheduled soon after. Thus, the 9th and 10th Circuits are neck and neck to be the next case to go before the Supreme Court, or both at the same time, for the October term.

 

[scream4ever]

Final vote for marriage equality bill in Scotland scheduled for Feb. 4th:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/01/22/final-vote-date-of-scotlands-equal-marriage-bill-announced/

 

[xbuzzerx]

Is that supposed to persuade a judge? Really? Wow... and at the 9th Circuit at that. I wouldn't be surprised if the judges deciding Sevcik just shut the dossier and decided not to listen to this drivel any longer.

Reading that argument, apparently according to that logic transgendered people should never be able to marry anyone at all, regardless of the gender mixes involved. Pretty amazing.

 

[Alnitak]

Reading that argument, apparently according to that logic transgendered people should never be able to marry anyone at all, regardless of the gender mixes involved. Pretty amazing.

They're too rabid for their own good. In Maryland we think that contributed to our 2012 victory. My own state senator Brochin cited extremism for changing his vote. I also spoke with one representative whom discussed at length about how repulsive the opponents were in his office, how that kind of rhetoric really does not resonate with lawmakers, and turns people off in the other direction.

 

[Alnitak]

[New Mexico] GOP Rep. Jim Smith: “I’m happy with the [state] Supreme Court’s decision.”

Rep. Smith expressed his opposition to SJR-6, the constitutional amendment proposed by Sen Bill Sharer that would permanently ban marriage for same-sex couples.

There is practically zero chance that marriage equality will be negated in New Mexico or Illinois, where another anti-gay zealot has proposed repealing the recently hard won law. Dutifully though our gay rights leaders are keeping a vigilant eye on these attempts.

 

[White Eagle]

My 1st cousin's son, my 2nd cousin posted this pic on Facebook, he was 21 yesterday. It came from Punk Rock Libertarians who posted this in 2012. I wanted to let everyone see that the kids of this generation is on our side. I wanted to post some comments about it but I'm getting Opinterph's ok that I can do it. There were 3,793 comments at the time I copied the pic but comments were getting higher. I didn't figure the percentage of good comments but I would bet you that .01 percent of those 3,793 comments were anti gay marriage. Pretty good if you ask me.

 

[Alnitak]

Your first cousin's son is still your first cousin, but one generation removed

The Millennial generation is unquestionably supportive and increasingly vocal.

 

[Alnitak]

Scream alerted me that Oregon's marriage cases are set for oral arguments on April 24.

Kuli, are you able to attend that day?