Same-Sex Marriage Update

[iamkeri1]

Did they request a stay so that marriages will not be able to take place while the opponents seek signatures to get it on the ballot or it is defeated at the polls?
Smooches,
Keri

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

Marriage equality opponents file referendum paperwork in Washington
By Jacob Combs

As expected, opponents of marriage equality have filed paperwork in Washington state to put a referendum of the state’s recently passed marriage bill on the November ballot. SeatllePI reports:

Opponents of same-sex marriage, seeking to force a referendum on Washington’s new law, filed the paperwork in Olympia about three hours after Gov. Chris Gregoire signed marriage equality into law.

They have until June 6, a political D-Day for collecting and submitting 120,577 valid voter signatures to put marriage equality on the November ballot. The right of same-sex couples to wed would be blocked until voters decide the issue.

…

Sponsors of Referendum 73 include groups at the right end of the political spectrum such as Concerned Women for America and the National Organization for Marriage. The campaign is being mounted under the banner of a group called Preserve Marriage Washington. Backholm predicted that the campaign will be “expensive”, with estimates in the $2-4 million range for each side.

Conservatives forced a statewide referendum in 2009 in a bid to roll back the a domestic partner law, nicknamed “Everything but Marriage,” after it was passed by the Washington Legislature. Voters by a 53-47 percent margin voted to sustain the rights of domestic partners.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Originally Posted by iamkeri1

Did they request a stay so that marriages will not be able to take place while the opponents seek signatures to get it on the ballot or it is defeated at the polls?
Smooches,
Keri

The 9th Circut Court left the stay in place until their Mandate could be put into effect, or until another appeal was filed by the other side.
From post 881:
UPDATE 1: From the ruling, p. 80, footnote 27:
“The stay pending appeal issued by this court on August 16, 2010 remains in effect pending issuance of the mandate.”
UPDATE 2: The National Center for Lesbian Rights’s senior attorney, Chris Stoll, shares his thoughts with us on the next steps of the trial:
The stay is still in effect. Footnote 27 the opinion says that the previously issued stay remains in effect pending issuance of the mandate. Mandate issues 7 days after the deadline for filing a petition for rehearing expires, or 7 days after petition for rehearing is denied, whichever is later. I expect that the proponents will ask for a further stay from 9th Circuit, and if that is not granted, they will ask the Supreme Court

[MsTinkerbelly]

Civil union bill passes Colorado House panel
By Jacob Combs

Yesterday, the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-2 to advance a civil union bill to the Senate floor. One Republican joined the committee’s four democrats to vote yes on the measure. The bill is expected to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, but its passage is unclear in the House, where Republicans hold a majority by a margin of one vote. From the Washington Post:

The bill addresses parental rights and child support when a same-sex couple separates. The bill would also grant same-sex couples other rights similar to what exist in a traditional marriage, such as the ability to be involved in their partner’s medical and end-of-life decisions. It also would enhance inheritance and property rights.

Colorado banned marriage equality in 2006, when voters amended the state constitution to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples. Last year, a similar bill passed the Senate, only to be killed in a House committee on a party-line vote. Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a gay legislator who supported the 2011 bill, told reporters that he was confident the measure would have passed a full house vote. This year could prove differently, with more Republicans in the state expressing support for the measure. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper also mentioned the bill in his State of the State speech in January, urging lawmakers to pass it and provide protections for Colorado’s gay and lesbian couples

[MsTinkerbelly]

Marriage equality bills to be considered today in New Jersey, Maryland legislatures
By Jacob Combs

Starting at 1 p.m. EST, the New Jersey General Assembly will debate and then vote on the marriage equality bill that passed the state’s Senate on Monday. The Assembly is expected to pass the bill, which Gov. Chris Christie has promised to veto. A link to the Assembly’s media stream can be found here.

Also today, the Maryland House of Delegates will begin debate on a proposed marriage equality bill, which passed out of a joint House committee on Tuesday. A procedural move in the House on Wednesday delayed consideration of the bill until today to buy more time for supporters to lobby legislators. Debate was scheduled to begin this morning, but was pushed back to a special session late this afternoon which will begin at 5:30 p.m. EST. Audio of the session will be available here. A final vote in the House could occur later this week.

We’ll have updates here on P8TT when the votes occur in either state!

UPDATE: The Baltimore Sun reports that a second GOP lawmaker has announced his support for marriage equality in Maryland:

Del. Wade Kach, a Baltimore County Republican, told The Sun this morning that he will switch his vote and throw his support behind Gov. Martin O’Malley’s bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

Kach said the change in heart came after considerable deliberation. He plans to put out a statement at 10:15 a.m.

The move puts O’Malley closer to the 71 votes he needs for passage in the 141-member chamber, but it is still unclear that supporters have the numbers they need. Lawmakers will begin debating the marriage bill this morning. A final vote could come as soon as Friday.

Kach’s decision is stunning since he voted against the same-sex marriage bill in committee on Monday night and is a co-sponsor of a different measure that would define marriage as between a man and a woman

[MsTinkerbelly]

Originally Posted by iamkeri1

Did they request a stay so that marriages will not be able to take place while the opponents seek signatures to get it on the ballot or it is defeated at the polls?
Smooches,
Keri

Oh jeez, you were asking about Washington! I believe that the side wishing to force a vote has until June to gather enough signatures to put it to a vote to repeal it in November. I think they call it a referendum.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Originally Posted by iamkeri1

Did they request a stay so that marriages will not be able to take place while the opponents seek signatures to get it on the ballot or it is defeated at the polls?
Smooches,
Keri

At the earliest, Marriage cannot begin until the legislature finishes their session...I think that is June as well.

[MsTinkerbelly]

New Jersey Assembly passes marriage equality bill
By Jacob Combs

Updated at 6:15 to reflect accurate vote count–apparently one assembly member’s button was broken during the vote.

In a late afternoon vote, the New Jersey General Assembly passed marriage equality on a vote of 42-33. The measure passed the Senate earlier this week by a 24-16 margin. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Chris Christie, who has promised to veto it.
The Washington Post reports on supporters’ next move should Christie keep true to his veto threat:

The bill would need several Republican votes in each house to override the governor; Christie himself essentially guaranteed that that won’t happen.

With that in mind, Democrats who identified same-sex marriage as their No. 1 priority for the two-year legislative session that began in January have adopted a longer view. They say there’s no rush for an override vote, especially because the Legislature has been unsuccessful in every prior attempt to override Christie, most notably to reinstate a surcharge on millionaires.

Instead, they plan to bide their time in hopes that support for gay marriage — currently 52-42 percent in New Jersey, according to one recent voter poll — will continue to grow.

“Civil rights is incremental, civil rights is long range, and you take one achievement at a time,” said Steven Goldstein, head of the state’s largest gay rights group, Garden State Equality.

In case same-sex couples can’t win gay marriage through legislation, they have engaged in a parallel fight in the courts. Seven gay couples and several of their children have sued, claiming that the state’s civil union law doesn’t work as intended

[iamkeri1]

Any chance that a supreme court justice (preferably Thomas or Scalia) will retire (or die) before prop 8 is advanced to the supreme court? The new justice might not vote due to "newness", but at least one of the bad old votes would be gone.

I can dream can't I
Smooches,
Keri

[suebee]

Same-sex marriage law change in Canada addresses divorce. Link here.

[*Anya*]

Excellent documentary on the case of Virginia couple Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple arrested, jailed and banished from Virginia for marrying in the 1950's.

As I listen to it, I can't help but replace interracial with gay and realize I am listening to the same exact excuses for not allowing lesbians and gays to marry.

Their love was not illegal. Their marriage was, a violation of Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act banning interracial marriage.

Richard and Mildred Loving were both sent to jail, charged criminally, convicted of felonies and banished from Virginia, the harsh beginning of a nine-year journey in which the couple would fight all the way to the Supreme Court, for the right to go home as husband and wife. 18 other states also had similar laws.

June 12,1967, the Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision, struck down the laws banning interracial marriage:

"Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not to marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state"

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/1...#storylink=cpy

[Gaige]

RANDALLSTOWN, Md. (WJZ)– Same-sex couples are one step closer to walking down the aisle legally in Maryland. The Civil Marriage Protection Act narrowly passed in the House of Delegates.

The bill will now head over to the Senate where it is expected to pass just as it did last year. But both sides believe it will then go to referendum in November so it could be Maryland voters who make the final call.

If voters approve the measure, the earliest a gay couple could wed in Maryland is January when the law would go into affect.