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Report: Virginia Attorney General to Fight State’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Virginia’s attorney general announced Thursday that he believes the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that Virginia will ask a federal court to strike it down, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

A spokeswoman for Democrat Mark R. Herring told the newspaper he thinks the ban is unnecessary and plans to file a brief on behalf of two same-sex couples in Norfolk who are challenging the ban, which was approved by voters in 2006, 57 percent to 43 percent.

“The attorney general has concluded that the ban violates the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution on two grounds — one, marriage is a fundamental right being denied to some Virginians, and two, the ban unlawfully discriminates on a basis of sexual orientation and gender,” spokeswoman Ellen Qualls told the newspaper.

Herring, took office Jan. 11, succeeding Republican Ken Cuccinelli, who opposes same-sex marriage. Herring voted for the ban as a state senator in 2006, but says that he has changed his views on the issue in recent years.

“I talked to a lot of people, I thought a lot about it, talked to my family, and I have seen how I would not want the state to tell my son or my daughter who they can and cannot marry,” Herring said last August, according to the report.

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US Judge Strikes Down Okla. Same-Sex Marriage Ban

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Photo Credit: AP/Eric Turner

Photo Credit: AP/Eric Turner

A federal judge struck down Oklahoma’s gay marriage ban Tuesday, but headed off any rush to the altar by setting aside his order while state and local officials complete an appeal.

It was the second time in a month that a federal judge has set aside a deeply conservative state’s limits on same-sex marriage, after Utah’s ban was reversed in December.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern described Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage as “an arbitrary, irrational exclusion of just one class of Oklahoma citizens from a governmental benefit.”

The decision drew criticism from the governor, attorney general and other elected officials in this state known as the buckle of the Bible Belt. A state lawmaker who once said gay people posed a greater threat to the nation than terrorism blasted rulings from “activist judges.”

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Activists Protest: Rose Parade Homosexual Marriage Float Degrades Family Event

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Two homosexual men will be married on a float in the 2014 Rose Parade on Wednesday, Jan. 1, in what critics are saying transforms the family-friendly event into a vehicle for promoting the gay rights activists’ political agenda.

Aubrey Loots and Danny Leclair were chosen by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation by lottery to be married atop a float made to resemble a wedding cake.

“The decision to allow two gay couples to ‘marry’ on a float during the Rose Parade denigrates this once family-friendly event,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization of Marriage. “It’s another ‘in your face’ example that should serve as a teachable moment for the American people.”

“Once marriage is redefined to make it genderless, this perverse construct of ‘marriage’ is forced on everyone,” Brown said.

The Pasadena Star-News reported on Thursday that San Diego, Calif. , resident Karen Grube started a Facebook page protesting the same-sex wedding.

Read more about the homosexual marriage float HERE.

Appeals Court Orders Utah on Christmas Eve: Move Forward With Same-Sex Marriages

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/The Deseret News, Tom Smart

Photo Credit: AP Photo/The Deseret News, Tom Smart

A federal appeals court has refused yet again to stop gay marriage in Utah, making it more likely that same-sex weddings in the home of the Mormon church are here to stay for the immediate future.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ rejection of Utah’s request for an emergency order to put gay marriage on hold marked yet another legal setback for the state. Utah lawyers have repeatedly struck out in their bid to block gay marriage, getting rejected on four occasions in recent days.

Utah’s last chance to temporarily stop the marriages would be a long-shot request before U.S. Supreme Court. That’s what the Utah attorney general’s office is prepared to do, spokesman Ryan Bruckman said. Gov. Gary Herbert’s office declined to comment on the decision.

“We’re disappointed in the ruling, but we just have to take it to the next level,” Bruckman said.

Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at Virginia’s University of Richmond who has tracked legal battles for gay marriage, said he expects the U.S. Supreme Court to make a decision by Friday. He thinks Utah faces long odds to get their stay granted, considering two courts have already rejected it and marriages have been going on for days now.

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Federal Judge: Right to Same-Sex Marriage Is ‘Deeply Rooted in Nation’s History and Implicit in The Concept of Ordered Liberty’

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Judge Robert J. Shelby, whom President Barack Obama appointed to the U.S. District Court in Utah last year, issued an opinion on Friday declaring that a right to same-sex marriage is “deeply rooted in the nation’s history and implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.”

Shelby was confirmed to the federal bench by a voice vote of the Senate on Sept. 21, 2012. There was no debate over his nomination, and no senator objected to his confirmation.

He has now issued an opinion that could fundamentally alter American law and culture.

“The State’s second argument is that the Plaintiffs are really seeking a new right, not access to an existing right,” Shelby wrote in an opinion issued on the afternoon of the Friday before Christmas.

“To establish a new fundamental right, the court must determine that the right is ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition’ and ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty,’ such that ‘neither liberty nor justice would exist if [it] were sacrificed,” he said.

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Man in Same-Sex Marriage May Wed Woman Too, Says North Dakota

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Photo Credit: midwest/rgbstock.com

Photo Credit: midwest/rgbstock.com

A man already married to another man in a state that permits same-sex marriage could wed a woman in North Dakota without breaking state laws, the state’s top attorney has found.

The finding raises potentially complex issues about Social Security and death benefits, tax exemptions and even possible prosecutions for bigamy or polygamy, said a constitutional law expert.

Those issues are likely to arise more often with 16 states plus the District of Columbia now recognizing same-sex marriage while a majority of states still ban it, said Jeffrey Shaman, a professor at DePaul University’s College of Law.

The issue came up when a man giving only his first name called Burleigh County Recorder Debbie Kroshus in September to ask if he could marry a woman in North Dakota if he were already married to a man in another state, she said.

“I didn’t ask where this caller was calling from or where he planned on getting a marriage license,” Kroshus said in a telephone interview, adding that it was not possible to determine if the man had applied for a marriage license.

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Mike Lee Authors Bill to Protect Religious Liberties of Churches That Uphold Traditional Marriage

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) plans to introduce a bill Wednesday that would prevent the Obama administration from pressuring churches into recognizing gay marriage.

It is concerning that we have people in this administration who think that religious liberties are just not that big of a deal,” Lee said in an interview with the Washington Examiner Tuesday.

Despite President Obama’s recent promise to respect religious freedom, Lee worries the White House may try to work around that promise by revoking the tax-exempt status of churches that recognize traditional marriage.

“We need not just statements, but we need legislation to protect religious liberty from this kind of potential threat,” he said in the interview.

Lee’s “Marriage and Religious Freedom Act” is meant to prevent federal officials from revoking churches’ and other nonprofits groups’ of their tax-exempt statuses over their support for traditional marriage.

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Lesbian Granted Same-Sex Marriage in Calif. Wants to Force Miss. to Grant Her Divorce

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Photo Credit: Lost Albatross/flickrLauren Beth Czekala-Chatham wants to force Mississippi, one of the America’s most conservative states, to recognize her same-sex marriage. She hopes to do so by getting a divorce.

She and Dana Ann Melancon traveled from Mississippi to San Francisco to get married in 2008. The wedding was all Czekala-Chatham hoped it would be, the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, dreams for a promising future. She wrote the vows herself.

The couple bought a house together in Walls, a town of about 1,100 in northern Mississippi’s DeSoto County in June 2009. But the marriage was tumultuous and, like so many others, it didn’t last.

Czekala-Chatham, a 51-year-old credit analyst and mother of two teenage sons from an earlier straight marriage, filed for divorce in chancery court in September. She wants to force Mississippi to recognize the same-sex marriage for the purpose of granting the divorce.

“It’s humiliating to know that you spend that money, that time to be in a committed relationship and for it to end. I mean, that hurts. But then to be in a state that doesn’t recognize you as a human being, or recognize you for who you are, for who you love, it’s hard,” Czekala-Chatham said during an interview at her current home in Hernando. “I’m not treated like the neighbors next door. I’m treated like a second-class citizen.”

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Illinois Bishop To Hold Exorcism For ‘Sin of Same-Sex Marriage’

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Photo Credit: cnsnews.comAs Gov. Pat Quinn signs a bill in Chicago on Wednesday making Illinois the 16th state to legalize same-sex marriage, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, the Roman Catholic prelate of Springfield, will be performing an exorcism ceremony “in reparation for the sin of same-sex marriage”

“We must pray for deliverance from this evil which has penetrated our state and our church,” the bishop, who testified against the measure before the state legislature in January, declared in a statement.

Quinn, a Catholic, has announced he will sign the bill. “Marriage equality is coming to Illinois. I look forward to signing this landmark legislation on November 20 and celebrating a big step forward with the people of Illinois,” the governor said.

Earlier this month, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, also a Catholic, cited Pope Francis’ recent “Whom am I to judge?” comment regarding gay members of the clergy to justify his support of the same-sex marriage bill, which passed on November 5th.

Without naming Quinn or Madigan, Paprocki accused Catholic politicians of “twisting the words of the pope to rationalize their actions.”

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Illinois Passes Same-Sex Marriage Law; Obama ‘So Proud’

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Photo Credit: APPresident Obama is “so proud” that lawmakers in his home state of Illinois have voted to legalize same-sex marriage, he said Tuesday night.

“I applaud the men and women of the Illinois General Assembly, a body in which I was proud to serve, for voting to legalize marriage equality in my home state,” Obama said in a statement released after the state House and Senate voted earlier in the day. The White House had previously said that Obama would have supported the measure if he were still in the legislature.

Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, has said that he will sign the bill, making Illinois the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage.

“As president, I have always believed that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally under the law. Over time, I also came to believe that same-sex couples should be able to get married like anyone else,” Obama added. “So tonight, Michelle and I are overjoyed for all the committed couples in Illinois whose love will now be as legal as ours — and for their friends and family who have long wanted nothing more than to see their loved ones treated fairly and equally under the law.”

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