Breaking news and open thread
January 10, 2020
Lambda Legal is reporting that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Trump administration can’t discharge military servicemembers who have HIV. The court issued a preliminary injunction while the case moves forward, saying the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits. The opinion is at the link.
This is an open thread. We’ll post anymore breaking news. The Supreme Court could potentially decide to take up some LGBT cases later this afternoon. We’ll report any action taken today.
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4 Comments
1.
VIRick | January 11, 2020 at 7:56 pm
Puerto Rico: Multiple Earthquakes and Aftershocks Have Rocked the Island
So far, in Puerto Rico, there have been 12 damaging earthquakes and aftershocks (M 4.6 or greater) over the past 7 days, in addition to about 1300 small quakes, all along the west-central portion of the south shore, in what is beginning to feel like an endless series of almost constant movement. The earthquakes are hitting an area of the island that was probably the least damaged from the 2017 hurricanes. However, now, hundreds of structures in that area have collapsed, causing millions of dollars in damage.
6 January 2020, 6:32 AM, 15 km from Guánica, M 5.8
6 January, 10:51 AM, 14 km from Guayanilla, M 5.9
7 January, 4:24 AM, 14 km from Guayanilla, M 6.4
7 January, 4:34 AM, 11 km from Ponce, M 5.6
7 January, 7:18 AM, 4 km from Yauco, M 6.0
7 January, 7:18 AM, 3 km from Guayanilla, M 5.6
10 January, 6:26 PM, 5 km from Guánica, M 5.2
10 January, 10:28 PM, 5 km from Guayanilla, M 4.8
11 January, 8:54 AM, 5 km from Yauco, M 5.9
11 January, 8:56 AM, 20 km from Guánica, M 5.2
11 January, 7:49 PM, 6 km from Yauco, M 4.6
12 January, 3:59 AM, 3 km from Guánica, M 4.9
For comparative purposes, along the same fault line on the inner ring, the devastating earthquake which hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 12 January 2010, measured magnitude 7.0. As of Friday, 10 January, NASA reported that the quakes had already moved the land in parts of southern Puerto Rico by as much as 5.5 inches (14 centimeters), based on satellite images before and after the temblors.
https://apnews.com/fd6b234395379a876bddc74e1b882d…
Here is a series of maps, showing the 30 most-recent earthquakes of M 2.3 or greater which have struck Puerto Rico either today or yesterday, 11-12 January 2020:
https://earthquaketrack.com/p/puerto-rico/recent
And where I am, on multiple recent occasions, the water in the toilet bowl has been observed rocking back and forth. However, as I understand it, we are situated on a separate, but parallel, fault line that wraps around on the outer ring.
2.
VIRick | January 12, 2020 at 10:04 am
Querétaro: Going for Marriage Equality in Tequisquiapan and Ezequiel Montes
Following in the footsteps of the municipality of Puebla, and due to the intransigence of the Querétaro state congress, as well as to the 2018 reversal in the state capital, Santiago de Querétaro, after the election of a PAN municipal president, the Frente Queretano is now working to implement marriage equality in two other additional municipalities within the state:
Querétaro: Van por Matrimonios Igualitarios en Tequisquiapan y Ezequiel Montes
El Frente Queretano por el Derecho a la No Discriminación y a Favor del Estado Laico trabaja con los ayuntamientos de Tequisquiapan y Ezequiel Montes para que permitan las uniones entre personas del mismo sexo, indicó el vocero de la organización, Walter López.
Por último, señaló que los presidentes municipales pueden tomar decisiones administrativas para permitir estas uniones, como sucedió en Santiago de Querétaro hasta el 2018, fecha en la que el actual presidente municipal, Luis Bernardo Nava Guerrero (PAN), volvió a pedir amparos.
https://www.diariodequeretaro.com.mx/local/van-po…
The Queretano Front for the Right to Non-Discrimination and in Favor of the Lay State is working with the municipalities of Tequisquiapan and Ezequiel Montes to allow same-sex unions, said the spokesman for the organization, Walter López.
Finally, he stressed that municipal presidents can make administrative decisions to allow these unions, as happened in Santiago de Querétaro until 2018, the date on which the current municipal president, Luis Bernardo Nava Guerrero (PAN), reverted to requesting amparos.
According to Wikipedia, as of January 2017, at the time, in addition to Santiago de Querétaro, seven other municipalities (of 18 total) in the state, with the 8 covering 60% of the state's population, were marrying same-sex couples without requiring them to receive an amparo beforehand: Amealco de Bonfil, Cadereyta de Montes, Ezequiel Montes, Huimilpan, Pedro Escobedo, San Joaquín, and Tolimán.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_i…
3.
allan120102 | January 12, 2020 at 6:57 pm
Puebla
It looks like even though Cholulas in favor of ssm they will wait for congress to legalize before continuing to marry ss couples. https://sintesis.com.mx/puebla/2020/01/12/cholula…
4.
VIRick | January 13, 2020 at 10:24 am
Allan, this point is according to Rocío García Olmedo (PRI), the Puebla deputy who is the sponsor of the pending marriage equality legislation legalizing same-sex marriage throughout all of Puebla state. Her reasoning is straightforward: she does not want multiple municipalities approving marriage equality at the municipal level, thus undermining her own effort to enact the statewide legislation. On 11 January, she issued a detailed Comunicado explaining the importance of the state congress passing her measure:
https://twitter.com/rgolmedo
And this morning, she followed that up by giving a number of media interviews.
However, in addition to the several Cholulas (San Pedro, San Andrés, Santa Isabel) where marriage equality legislation at the municipal level is probable, there is also Atlixco, the flower city, population 125,000, situated just south of the Cholulas and just southwest of Puebla, and thus, in the same suburban ring. After Puebla (46) and San Pedro Cholula (26), Atlixco has had the third-highest number of same-sex marriages so far. Another likely possibility is San Martín Texmelucan, population 145,000, just north of the Cholulas and abutting the Tlaxcala state line.