December 23, 2013, was an incredibly busy day on the same-sex marriage legal front.:
In Utah, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby denied a motion by the state to stay his ruling of a few days before holding that same-sex couples have a federal constitutional right to marry, and the state filed an “emergency” appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit (their third such motion) seeking a stay pending appeal. … <Read More>
The Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled on December 20 that an existing different-sex marriage is not rendered void when one of the spouses has obtained a legal judgment of gender change. Reversing a ruling by Judge Valeri Haughton of the Monroe Circuit Court, Judge Paul Mathias wrote for the court in Davis v. Summers that this construction of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage would be “beyond the purview of our constitutional authority to … <Read More>
The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled today in a unanimous decision in Greigo v. Oliver, Docket No. 34, 306, 2013 WL 6670704, that the state’s marriage law denies same-sex couples the right to marry and thus violates the Equal Protection Clause of the state’s constitution. Wrote Justice Edward L. Chavez for the court: “We hold that the State of New Mexico is constitutionally required to allow same-gender couples to marry and must extend to them … <Read More>
U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman issued a decision on December 10 in Edwards v. Orr, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173801, 2013 WL 6490577 (N.D. Ill.), a class action suit brought by Lambda Legal seeking a judicial order allowing “medically critical plaintiffs” in same-sex couples to get marriage licenses in advance of the official June 1, 2014, implementation date for the same-sex marriage amendment signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn on November 20. Because … <Read More>
Just days after same-sex couples began getting married in Canberra under a law passed by the Australian Capital Territory’s Assembly, the High Court of Australia, that country’s appellate court of last resort, ruled that the territorial legislation was “inconsistent” with the federal Marriage Act 1961 (as amended in 2004), and thus “of no effect.” The same-sex marriages contracted over the past few days are invalid. However, at the same time, the High Court’s unanimous decision … <Read More>
A Colorado Administrative Law Judge ruled on December 6, 2013, that a bakery had violated the state’s public accommodations law when its owner refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay male couple on July 19, 2012.
Colorado does not have same-sex marriage, and only enacted a civil union law open to same-sex couples early in 2013. Back in 2012, however, Coloradans Charlie Craig and David Mullins planned to get married in Massachusetts and … <Read More>
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled today that a lower court, with the support of the U.K. Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), correctly found that Mr. and Mrs. Bull, operators of a hotel, had violated UK non-discrimination law by refusing to honor a reservation for a room with a double bed made by a gay couple who are registered as civil partners, the UK equivalent status to marriage for same-sex partners now … <Read More>
Yesterday afternoon U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin signed a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction directing Cook County Clerk David Orr to issue a marriage license to Vernita Gray and Patricia Ewert. Gray v. Orr, Case No. 1:13-cv-8449 (Nov. 25, 2013). The marriage equality bill signed into law last week by Governor Patrick Quinn does not go into effect until June 1, 2014, but that may be too late for Gray and Ewert, who … <Read More>
There is a new on-line law review article that throws down the gauntlet on the question whether state-enacted DOMA statutes and constitutional amendments actually “protect” traditional marriage. As of May 2014, same-sex marriage will have been legal in Massachusetts for a decade. Since then, 14 states and the District of Columbia have made it possible for same-sex couples to marry, and two more states are about to join that group: Illinois (pending the governor’s signature … <Read More>
A federal judge in Cincinnati has ruled that a lawsuit seeking to compel the state of Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages of its residents that were performed in other jurisdictions will live on, despite the death of a plaintiff that might otherwise moot the case, and that a gay Cincinnati funeral director may carry on the challenge as a “third-party plaintiff” representing the interests of his future clients. The judge also suggested that his ruling … <Read More>