Same-sex, whole-milk marriage: 50 Shades of Gay

[nerdanel]

Great news! Now please send all the newlywed couples to honeymoon in California. We are relaliably informed that this is guaranteed to cause massive rainfall, and the draught is fierce here.

You joke, but I worked for the ACLU in a particular state when I was in law school and participated in the filing of a marriage equality lawsuit that summer. We filed the lawsuit in the morning. It was sunny and we ate wedding cake at the press conference. Then, in the afternoon, the relevant city was subject to a flash flood...and my beloved car was swept away and totaled. The only reasonable conclusion is of course that gay marriage = Noah's ark part II.



Thread title updated.

[Frelga]

I don't joke, it's a scientifically proven fact.

For a given value of "scientifically", "proven" and "fact."

How same-sex marriage causes floods

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The only reasonable conclusion is of course that gay marriage = Noah's ark part II.



Thread title updated.

Until I looked I thought that "Noah's ark part II" was the new subtitle.

One thing that occurred to me is that if we included all of the states in which marriage equality has been legalized but put on hold pending appeal, it would be more than half of the states (I think; I haven't actually counted it out). Is that a tipping point?

[Primula Baggins]

Once the appeals start being denied, it will seem pretty overwhelming. It may be there already. Culture has shifted enough that large corporations, for example, would have to look twice at siting facilities in a state where same-sex marriage is being legislatively blocked and where it is not recognized at the state level; this would be like siting in a Jim Crow state. You can see corporate America realizing this, and I expect that this is what will finally hurt the reddest states enough to move them along. Not concern for their own citizens, but concern for their bottom line.

I'm glad that Oregon doesn't have to wait in suspense. I hope that at some point the Supreme Court sweeps all this patchwork away, as they did in Loving.

[nerdanel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_m ... x_marriage

Looks like we are in fact at 25, counting seven stayed rulings - with VA, UT, OK, TX, MI, ID, and MR in that camp. (The total count that this thread uses - 19 - includes DC, so we are actually only at 18 states with full legalization.)

Until I looked I thought that "Noah's ark part II" was the new subtitle.

Could've gone with "Noah's Ark Nineteen" - definitely!

[yovargas]

[Primula Baggins]

Mrchigan?

I woke up this morning and I was still married to my husband, BTW.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Could've gone with "Noah's Ark Nineteen" - definitely!

I love it. But I guess it wouldn't mean much to someone unless they were closely following the thread.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Looks like we are in fact at 25, counting seven stayed rulings - with VA, UT, OK, TX, MI, ID, and MR in that camp. (The total count that this thread uses - 19 - includes DC, so we are actually only at 18 states with full legalization.)

Ah, but you left out Pennsylvania!

https://twitter.com/ReutersUS/status/468820684722810880

Edited to add:

Judge Jones wrote, “in future generations the label same-sex marriage will be abandoned, to be replaced simply by marriage. We are better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history.”

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/05/ ... d-tuesday/

[Inanna]

Hear, Hear!!

[Primula Baggins]

I've been meaning to post the final paragraphs of Judge McShane's opinion in his Oregon ruling:

It is at times difficult to see past the shrillness of the debate. Accusations of religious bigotry and banners reading "God Hates Fags" make for a messy democracy and, at times, test the First Amendment resolve of both sides. At the core of the Equal Protection Clause, however, there exists a foundational belief that certain rights should be shielded from the barking crowds; that certain rights are subject to ownership by all and not the stake hold of popular trend or shifting majorities.

My decision will not be the final word on this subject, but on this issue of marriage I am struck more by our similarities than our differences. I believe that if we can look for a moment past gender and sexuality, we can see in these plaintiffs nothing more or less than our own families. Families who we would expect our Constitution to protect, if not exalt, in equal measure. With discernment we see not shadows lurking in closets or the stereotypes of what was once believed; rather, we see families committed to the common purpose of love, devotion, and service to the greater community.

Where will this all lead? I know that many suggest we are going down a slippery slope that will have no moral boundaries. To those who truly harbor such fears, I can only say this: Let us look less to the sky to see what might fall; rather, let us look to each other ... and rise.

[nerdanel]

Mrchigan?

I woke up this morning and I was still married to my husband, BTW.

You are not in compliance with Oregon state law. You must report to City Hall forthwith so that each of you can be assigned your new compulsory same-sex marriage partners. This has been black-letter gay marriage law since 2004, as my paper of record reports:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/massac ... s-to,1135/

As for Pennsylvania, since the AG is not willing to defend the law and the district court is not willing to stay its order, clearing the way for marriage licenses to be issued later today, I'm inclined to go ahead and include them in our thread count. We may have to downgrade by one if the Third Circuit changes something, but we've had to do so before.

[narya]

Could've gone with "Noah's Ark Nineteen" - definitely!

I love it. But I guess it wouldn't mean much to someone unless they were closely following the thread.

I saw the news today about Pennsylvania and went "OPA!" which roughly translates to "Woot!" in Greek.

[Frelga]

And for a reminder on why this matters,

Married gay couple fight for in-state tuition rights

It's the simple things that most of us take for granted, like paying in-state tuition.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Wisconsin is the latest state to have a same sex marriage ban struck down, although it is unclear at this point whether the ruling is going to be stayed or not.

The other news of note is that a lawsuit has been filing in federal court challenging the marriage equality ban in North Dakota. That means that every single marriage equality ban in the country is now being challenged.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Add Indiana to the list, pending a likely appeal and stay.

And, more significantly, the 10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, in a 2 to 1 decision, has affirmed the decision overturning Utah's same sex marriage ban. However, they kept the stay in place, pending the expected SCOTUS appeal. But this is the very first Court of Appeals panel to rule that banning same sex marriage is unconstitutional (you will recall that the Ninth Circuit ruled that California's Prop 8 was unconstitutional on the more narrow grounds that the voters could not take away a right that had already been given). The judge writing the decision was a Bill Clinton appointee, but the judge that joined him was appointed by George W. Bush. The dissenting judge was appointed by Bush the Elder. And it continues the trend in which every single court that has ruled on the issue since SCOTUS ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional in part.

[nerdanel]

Wisconsin and Tenth Circuit are stayed, and Indiana marriages are currently going forward but are likely to be stayed by a higher court, so I'll leave our count where it is for now. This is definitely an historic day.

[River]

The county clerk in Boulder County, CO has reacted to the 10th circuit's ruling by issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples, starting TODAY.

[nerdanel]

So they technically aren't supposed to be doing that. The symbolism is compelling, but I know from our Winter of Love that even with the best intentions, that sort of thing can create confusion and heartache (as couples go from thinking they're married, to realizing they're not, to having to get married again and then figure out which anniversary to celebrate, etc.)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That's irresponsible. At least in San Francisco, there was some hope that the marriages would validated, however small, and it undoubtedly gave the marriage equality movement a big push at a time when it needed it. All that this accomplishes is misleading people into thinking that they are married when they aren't.