Same-Sex Marriage Update

MsTinkerbelly · 11-30-2010, 01:55 PM

MINNESOTA: "Family Values" Group Denied Standing In Marriage Suit

Via a press release from Marry Me Minnesota, we learn of a positive development that took place last week.
On November 24th, Minnesota Fourth District Court Judge Mary S. DuFrense denied a motion by the Minnesota Family Council to intervene as defendants against a lawsuit brought by three same same-sex couples and one minor child to strike down Minnesota laws that deny marriage equality. In her rebuff to the Minnesota Family Council and its multi-million dollar backers in the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, Judge DuFrense held that the Council's "strong feelings" and "purely ideological" interest in the lawsuit do not give it standing in court. "We appreciate the Judge's decision to deny the Minnesota Family Council's motion and believe it ensures that our case will be decided on its merits, without the interference of anti-gay ideologues," said, Douglas Benson, Executive Director of Marry Me Minnesota, a non-profit organization formed by the litigating gay couples. The couples' lead attorney, Peter J. Nickitas of Minneapolis, declared, "This decision is a great victory for the plaintiffs and their families, marriage equality, and the integrity of the court system."

MsTinkerbelly · 12-01-2010, 11:02 AM

NOM attacks civil unions in Illinois; Bill may be voted on today
by Andy Kelley
New Media Organizer, Courage Campaign

In developing news, Illinois could vote to pass the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act (SB 1716), creating civil unions for same-sex couples, as soon as today.

Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn has pledged to sign the bill if passed telling the Chicago Tribune on Monday “I do think this is the time for Illinois to do this. This is a good way to show employers — big businesses all across the country — that Illinois treats everyone with tolerance.”

Despite their previous claims to not oppose civil unions, the National Organization for Marriage is hard at work urging their supporters to contact their legislators and urge them to oppose passage of the bill, calling it “same-sex marriage by a different name.”

Advocates of the bill are not allowing this challenge by out of state, Washington DC based interests to go unanswered. As Chicago Pride reports:

Gay rights activists continue to encourage the LGBT community to contact their legislators on Tuesday morning by calling the Illinois Capitol switchboard at 217-782-2000. EQIL has also established a hotline to help people identify their legislators, that number is 773-477-7173.

We will continue to bring you updates as this story develops.

UPDATE:

Good news. The Daily Herald is reporting that the bill has passed the state house and will move to the state senate for consideration:

By a 61-52 vote, lawmakers voted to allow civil unions, which would give nonmarried partners both gay and straight additional rights and benefits under state law

MsTinkerbelly · 12-01-2010, 11:09 AM

Just a note from my thoughts:

I want equal....Civil Unions are not equal unless EVERYONE has civil unions, and then they have the option of a religious or non-religious "Marriage" of their choice. There are several countries that have this procedure in place. Italy comes to mind as one.....

However Civil Unions are a start, and at least offer the same protections and responcibilities in the home state. Equal Federal "Marriage" is what we have to fight for, until there is something better for EVERYONE!!!

MsTinkerbelly · 12-01-2010, 01:58 PM

BREAKING: Civil Unions PASS In Illinois Senate, Gov. Quinn To Sign Bill

The bill just passed 32-24! Updates will be added to this post shortly.

Yay for Illinois!!!!!

MsTinkerbelly · 12-03-2010, 01:54 PM

European Parliament Says Gay Unions Must Be Recognized By All EU Members

The European Parliament has declared that official documents such as marriage, civil union, birth, and death certificates must be recognized by all members of the European Union. Rex Wockner reports at Pink Paper:

"This is a great development for the many couples and families who see their fundamental rights diminished every day when crossing a border inside the EU," said Ulrike Lunacek, co-president of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights. Co-President Michael Cashman said the statement adopted by the Parliament "follows the Commission's assertion in September that freedom of movement must be guaranteed for all citizens, regardless of sexual orientation." "Claims that mutual recognition will undermine national sovereignty are plain wrong; it won't affect national marriage or partnership laws, but simply recognize civil unions that already exist," Cashman said.
Same-sex marriage is legal in the EU member nations of Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Civil unions or partnerships are recognized in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

MsTinkerbelly · 12-06-2010, 11:02 AM

Official Prop 8 Trial Tracker preview of the 9th Circuit hearing tomorrow(12/6)
By Adam Bink

Tomorrow is the 9th Circuit hearing of the appeal on Perry v. Schwarzenegger. As usual, it’ll be trial central here at P8TT. Here’s a run-down for all your 9th Circuit hearing needs:

What coverage you’ll find here at P8TT. The hearing starts at 10 AM PST tomorrow. As in Judge Walker’s courtroom, Courage Campaign’s Rick Jacobs and Arisha Michelle Hatch will be in the courtroom, sending back dispatches as they become available. I will be watching the proceedings and live-blogging, format similar to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell hearings on Thursday and Friday. I will also be live-tweeting occasionally, and my handle is @adamjbink. Brian Leubitz, publisher of the Calitics blog and occasional legal contributor to P8TT, will be joining us tomorrow to post his occasional thoughts in the trial thread, and answer legal questions/comments from you in the comments. He’ll also have an analysis piece later tomorrow.

How the hearing will be divided. Oral arguments will be divided into two hour-long sessions with a brief recess in between. The issue of standing will be addressed in the first hour, and the constitutionality of Prop 8 in the second. David Boies will be arguing the standing issue, and Ted Olson, along with Therese Stewart from the City/County of San Francisco, will be arguing the constitutionality for our side. Charles Cooper will be addressing the constitutionality for the Pro-Prop 8 side, and it’s as-yet undetermined who will argue standing for their side, although Lisa Keen reports Imperial County will be represented by an attorney from Advocates for Faith and Freedom.

Possible rulings. Brian and the rest of the legal team will have more on this in the week ahead, but brief, potential rulings include upholding Judge Walker’s ruling denying standing to the defender/intervenors, not to mention the issue of constitutionality itself. And naturally, that could go the other way. The case may be appealed to the Supreme Court, but if the court does not take the case and the ruling goes our way, Prop 8 will be overturned. P8TT friend Karen Ocamb reports that if the Supremes do not take the case, AFER announced it will then file a new lawsuit to try and achieve marriage equality at the federal level. The losing party could also appeal for a ruling by the full 9th Circuit, which can decide to hear or not to hear such an appeal. And last, if proponents of Imperial County lose on standing, there may not be a ruling on the merits (constitutionality) at all. But then, the Supremes could rule that defendant/intervenors do have standing and send the case back to the 9th Circuit for a ruling on merits. We’ll have more legal scenarios and analysis tomorrow and later this week at P8TT, as well.

Where to watch. You can watch in-person, on C-SPAN, at a local law school near you, at a local courthouse near you, at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center (doors open at 9:30), and other places. Karen has the skinny on some other viewing possibilities. But of course, the best place to follow along, comment and read your fellow community members’ analysis, especially if you’re busy for the two hours, will be P8TT!

Where to go to be with supporters. If you’re in the area, tomorrow from 7:30-9:30 AM, various LGBT community leaders and allies will be holding a community rally before the hearing starts. The location is the courthouse at 7th and Mission Streets in San Francisco. In attendance will be NCLR’s Kate Kendall, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, Lambda Legal’s Jenny Pizer, and other community leaders. You can also stick around to watch the hearing in overflow courtrooms, or head out to follow along here. A Facebook invite is here.
If you have any other tidbits to add, or questions/comments/expectations, please leave them in the comments.

Big day tomorrow. See you all then

MsTinkerbelly · 12-06-2010, 11:05 AM

All of the information above is for the start of the hearings TODAY 12/6, I just didn't have time to be on-line and post this last night.

I can hardly sit still!!

MasterWolf · 12-06-2010, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

BREAKING: Civil Unions PASS In Illinois Senate, Gov. Quinn To Sign Bill

The bill just passed 32-24! Updates will be added to this post shortly.

Yay for Illinois!!!!!

This one thrills me more than any of the others. 35 yrs ago my ex and I sat in, got arrested and did jail time, trying to get a marriage license in Chicago. 35 years ago the word 'gay' never appeared in the local media... Its been a long time coming, and while civil union is not acceptable because separate is never equal. It coming to Illinois, which was the last northern state to ratify the Civil rights Act of 1954, (what an awful bit of noteriety), says a lot. Outside of chicago area, Illinois is really a bible belt state.

Perhaps it isn't ridiculous to hope that we truly will be equal under all laws in my life time.

peace

Wolf

Sparkle · 12-06-2010, 12:32 PM

Live broadcast: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN.aspx

MsTinkerbelly · 12-20-2010, 11:10 AM

Monday, December 20, 2010
LAUNCHED: Equality Matters

Media Matters has launched Equality Matters, a new LGBT activism site meant to serve as a "communications war room for gay equality."
It will be run by Richard Socarides, a former domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton who has been deeply critical of President Obama’s record on gay rights. A well-known gay journalist, Kerry Eleveld, the Washington correspondent for The Advocate, will leave that magazine in January to edit the new group’s Web site, equalitymatters.org, which is to go online Monday morning. “Yesterday was a very important breakthrough,” Mr. Socarides said in an interview on Sunday, “and President Obama’s comments, especially following the vote, were very significant, where he for the first time connected race and gender to sexual orientation under the banner of civil rights. “But we will celebrate this important victory for five minutes, and then we have to move on, because we are the last group of Americans who are discriminated against in federal law and there is a lot of work to do.”
Among the major backers of Media Matters is billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

11-30-2010, 01:55 PM	#1
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,906 Times in 5,017 Posts Rep Power: 0	From Joemygod MINNESOTA: "Family Values" Group Denied Standing In Marriage Suit Via a press release from Marry Me Minnesota, we learn of a positive development that took place last week. On November 24th, Minnesota Fourth District Court Judge Mary S. DuFrense denied a motion by the Minnesota Family Council to intervene as defendants against a lawsuit brought by three same same-sex couples and one minor child to strike down Minnesota laws that deny marriage equality. In her rebuff to the Minnesota Family Council and its multi-million dollar backers in the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, Judge DuFrense held that the Council's "strong feelings" and "purely ideological" interest in the lawsuit do not give it standing in court. "We appreciate the Judge's decision to deny the Minnesota Family Council's motion and believe it ensures that our case will be decided on its merits, without the interference of anti-gay ideologues," said, Douglas Benson, Executive Director of Marry Me Minnesota, a non-profit organization formed by the litigating gay couples. The couples' lead attorney, Peter J. Nickitas of Minneapolis, declared, "This decision is a great victory for the plaintiffs and their families, marriage equality, and the integrity of the court system."

12-01-2010, 11:02 AM	#2
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,906 Times in 5,017 Posts Rep Power: 0	From the Prop 8 Trial Tracker NOM attacks civil unions in Illinois; Bill may be voted on today by Andy Kelley New Media Organizer, Courage Campaign In developing news, Illinois could vote to pass the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act (SB 1716), creating civil unions for same-sex couples, as soon as today. Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn has pledged to sign the bill if passed telling the Chicago Tribune on Monday “I do think this is the time for Illinois to do this. This is a good way to show employers — big businesses all across the country — that Illinois treats everyone with tolerance.” Despite their previous claims to not oppose civil unions, the National Organization for Marriage is hard at work urging their supporters to contact their legislators and urge them to oppose passage of the bill, calling it “same-sex marriage by a different name.” Advocates of the bill are not allowing this challenge by out of state, Washington DC based interests to go unanswered. As Chicago Pride reports: Gay rights activists continue to encourage the LGBT community to contact their legislators on Tuesday morning by calling the Illinois Capitol switchboard at 217-782-2000. EQIL has also established a hotline to help people identify their legislators, that number is 773-477-7173. We will continue to bring you updates as this story develops. UPDATE: Good news. The Daily Herald is reporting that the bill has passed the state house and will move to the state senate for consideration: By a 61-52 vote, lawmakers voted to allow civil unions, which would give nonmarried partners both gay and straight additional rights and benefits under state law

12-01-2010, 01:58 PM	#4
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,906 Times in 5,017 Posts Rep Power: 0	From joemygod BREAKING: Civil Unions PASS In Illinois Senate, Gov. Quinn To Sign Bill The bill just passed 32-24! Updates will be added to this post shortly. Yay for Illinois!!!!!

12-03-2010, 01:54 PM	#5
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,906 Times in 5,017 Posts Rep Power: 0	From joemygod European Parliament Says Gay Unions Must Be Recognized By All EU Members The European Parliament has declared that official documents such as marriage, civil union, birth, and death certificates must be recognized by all members of the European Union. Rex Wockner reports at Pink Paper: "This is a great development for the many couples and families who see their fundamental rights diminished every day when crossing a border inside the EU," said Ulrike Lunacek, co-president of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights. Co-President Michael Cashman said the statement adopted by the Parliament "follows the Commission's assertion in September that freedom of movement must be guaranteed for all citizens, regardless of sexual orientation." "Claims that mutual recognition will undermine national sovereignty are plain wrong; it won't affect national marriage or partnership laws, but simply recognize civil unions that already exist," Cashman said. Same-sex marriage is legal in the EU member nations of Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Civil unions or partnerships are recognized in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

12-06-2010, 11:02 AM	#6
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,906 Times in 5,017 Posts Rep Power: 0	PROP 8 TRIAL TRACKER...Yesterday's post Official Prop 8 Trial Tracker preview of the 9th Circuit hearing tomorrow(12/6) By Adam Bink Tomorrow is the 9th Circuit hearing of the appeal on Perry v. Schwarzenegger. As usual, it’ll be trial central here at P8TT. Here’s a run-down for all your 9th Circuit hearing needs: What coverage you’ll find here at P8TT. The hearing starts at 10 AM PST tomorrow. As in Judge Walker’s courtroom, Courage Campaign’s Rick Jacobs and Arisha Michelle Hatch will be in the courtroom, sending back dispatches as they become available. I will be watching the proceedings and live-blogging, format similar to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell hearings on Thursday and Friday. I will also be live-tweeting occasionally, and my handle is @adamjbink. Brian Leubitz, publisher of the Calitics blog and occasional legal contributor to P8TT, will be joining us tomorrow to post his occasional thoughts in the trial thread, and answer legal questions/comments from you in the comments. He’ll also have an analysis piece later tomorrow. How the hearing will be divided. Oral arguments will be divided into two hour-long sessions with a brief recess in between. The issue of standing will be addressed in the first hour, and the constitutionality of Prop 8 in the second. David Boies will be arguing the standing issue, and Ted Olson, along with Therese Stewart from the City/County of San Francisco, will be arguing the constitutionality for our side. Charles Cooper will be addressing the constitutionality for the Pro-Prop 8 side, and it’s as-yet undetermined who will argue standing for their side, although Lisa Keen reports Imperial County will be represented by an attorney from Advocates for Faith and Freedom. Possible rulings. Brian and the rest of the legal team will have more on this in the week ahead, but brief, potential rulings include upholding Judge Walker’s ruling denying standing to the defender/intervenors, not to mention the issue of constitutionality itself. And naturally, that could go the other way. The case may be appealed to the Supreme Court, but if the court does not take the case and the ruling goes our way, Prop 8 will be overturned. P8TT friend Karen Ocamb reports that if the Supremes do not take the case, AFER announced it will then file a new lawsuit to try and achieve marriage equality at the federal level. The losing party could also appeal for a ruling by the full 9th Circuit, which can decide to hear or not to hear such an appeal. And last, if proponents of Imperial County lose on standing, there may not be a ruling on the merits (constitutionality) at all. But then, the Supremes could rule that defendant/intervenors do have standing and send the case back to the 9th Circuit for a ruling on merits. We’ll have more legal scenarios and analysis tomorrow and later this week at P8TT, as well. Where to watch. You can watch in-person, on C-SPAN, at a local law school near you, at a local courthouse near you, at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center (doors open at 9:30), and other places. Karen has the skinny on some other viewing possibilities. But of course, the best place to follow along, comment and read your fellow community members’ analysis, especially if you’re busy for the two hours, will be P8TT! Where to go to be with supporters. If you’re in the area, tomorrow from 7:30-9:30 AM, various LGBT community leaders and allies will be holding a community rally before the hearing starts. The location is the courthouse at 7th and Mission Streets in San Francisco. In attendance will be NCLR’s Kate Kendall, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, Lambda Legal’s Jenny Pizer, and other community leaders. You can also stick around to watch the hearing in overflow courtrooms, or head out to follow along here. A Facebook invite is here. If you have any other tidbits to add, or questions/comments/expectations, please leave them in the comments. Big day tomorrow. See you all then

12-01-2010, 11:09 AM	#3
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,906 Times in 5,017 Posts Rep Power: 0	Just a note from my thoughts: I want equal....Civil Unions are not equal unless EVERYONE has civil unions, and then they have the option of a religious or non-religious "Marriage" of their choice. There are several countries that have this procedure in place. Italy comes to mind as one..... However Civil Unions are a start, and at least offer the same protections and responcibilities in the home state. Equal Federal "Marriage" is what we have to fight for, until there is something better for EVERYONE!!!

12-06-2010, 11:05 AM	#7
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,906 Times in 5,017 Posts Rep Power: 0	All of the information above is for the start of the hearings TODAY 12/6, I just didn't have time to be on-line and post this last night. I can hardly sit still!!

12-06-2010, 12:32 PM	#9
Sparkle Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: She, please Relationship Status: Loved Up Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Western MA Posts: 2,183 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 9,001 Thanked 6,554 Times in 1,553 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	Live broadcast: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN.aspx __________________ I am made of stars

12-20-2010, 11:10 AM	#10
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,906 Times in 5,017 Posts Rep Power: 0	From joemygod Monday, December 20, 2010 LAUNCHED: Equality Matters Media Matters has launched Equality Matters, a new LGBT activism site meant to serve as a "communications war room for gay equality." It will be run by Richard Socarides, a former domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton who has been deeply critical of President Obama’s record on gay rights. A well-known gay journalist, Kerry Eleveld, the Washington correspondent for The Advocate, will leave that magazine in January to edit the new group’s Web site, equalitymatters.org, which is to go online Monday morning. “Yesterday was a very important breakthrough,” Mr. Socarides said in an interview on Sunday, “and President Obama’s comments, especially following the vote, were very significant, where he for the first time connected race and gender to sexual orientation under the banner of civil rights. “But we will celebrate this important victory for five minutes, and then we have to move on, because we are the last group of Americans who are discriminated against in federal law and there is a lot of work to do.” Among the major backers of Media Matters is billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

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