Utah asks the Supreme Court to stop same-sex couples from marrying, as they’ve been able to do now for about a week and a half.
Continue 205 Comments December 31, 2013
Updates from Utah, Louisiana, and elsewhere, and a look at 2014.
Continue 2 Comments December 31, 2013
What an incredible year it has been for marriage equality and for EqualityOnTrial.
Continue December 31, 2013
By Matt Baume
We end the year with big marriage wins in Utah and New Mexico. But those victories could still be overturned. We’ll have the latest on attempts to undo marriage in those states. We’ve also seen some major steps towards equality in Oregon, Ohio, Florida, Arkansas and Illinois. Plus, AFER has date for a hearing in its Virginia case.
Well Christmas came a little early this year, with marriage equality in Utah and New Mexico. This brings the total number of states with marriage to 18. Nearly 40% of Americans now live in a state where LGBT couples can marry.
During just the first week of marriage in Utah, clerks issued over twelve thousand marriage licenses. But this win isn’t final yet. Although state’s request for an emergency stay was denied by both the district court and an appellate court, they’re now working on an appeal to the US Supreme Court. We’re expecting that filing any day now.
As you might expect, polling in Utah is pretty grim. For now, most residents oppose relationship recognition. But as in every other state, support is steadily on the rise.
Public opinion is a bit stronger in New Mexico, where the state Supreme Court ruled this month in favor of marriage equality. And a slim majority of residents favored the freedom to marry in the most recent survey. But anti-equality activists have vowed to pursue a constitutional ban on marriage. It’s possible they could be successful, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation there.
We had a few other victories over the holidays. A judge in Illinois has ruled that all couples facing terminal illness can marry immediately. Previously, they would have had to wait until the official start of marriage equality this summer. And a judge in Ohio ruled that the state must recognize marriages from out of state on death certificates. That narrow ruling could lead to further litigation to completely undo the state’s marriage ban.
The ACLU has filed a new lawsuit in Oregon. This is the second federal suit in Oregon, and the ALCU will seek to have them both combined. Organizers will also attempt to overturn the state’s marriage ban at the ballot box this November.
Equality Florida is working on a lawsuit as well, though they haven’t filed it yet. The group’s goal is to bring full marriage equality to the state by 2016.
A suit in Nevada has been slightly delayed. The next briefing deadline in Sevcik v Sandoval was just pushed back one month, to January 20. A judge in Arkansas has rejected a motion to dismiss a lawsuit there, so that suit will move ahead. And we have a hearing scheduled in AFER’s case against Virginia’s marriage ban. That’s scheduled for January 30.
36 Comments December 30, 2013
Briefing in Utah’s appeal of Judge Shelby’s decision striking down Utah’s same-sex marriage ban will be concluded by late February.
Continue 48 Comments December 30, 2013
The price tag for hiring outside counsel to defend Utah’s anti-gay marriage laws could be $2 million.
Continue 14 Comments December 30, 2013
