Marriage Equality: Toward victory in U.S.--On to the rest of the world?

[Dave Cullen]

Nearly nine years ago, before opening the forum, I started a thread titled simply  "Gay Marriage," with this first post:

So here's the thing:

When and if I ever find a guy to marry, I deserve to be able to. Legally.

The question is tactics.

Are we recklessly charging ahead too quickly and inviting/inciting a backlash, or are we still being too timid and dragging our feet?

About a month later, on Jan 17, 2006,  I expanded the title to "Gay Marriage -- Is the time ripe for change?"

Still later, as things evolved, we changed it again to "Gay Marriage: Inciting a backlash, or dragging along too slowly?"

We have come a LONG way. It's a whole new discussion, so it seemed like a going point to archive that great discussion and start fresh on our whole new road ahead here.

We are headed toward victory now, and it appears only a matter of time, in the U.S., while much of industrialized world zipped past us, happily.

So what we think about it now? What's important now? (Am I too confident?)

As we're winning in the blue states in the U.S., what's it like in the red states, and especially, the other 95% of the world?

(Also, we are finally removing the phrase "gay marriage" from the title. I've grown to hate it. There is no gay marriage anymore than Black Marriage, as I believe Rev. Al Sharpton says. (Correct me if I've got the wrong person.) It's just marriage. Marriage equality. Someday, the New York Times will come to grasp that.

[killersmom]

Thanks for updating the topic Dave, and the name.

Virginia is still at a standstill on marriage equality.

As expected, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has asked the Supreme Court to stay a lower court ruling that would end Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage this week.  The Attorney General's office filed a response to the motion filed by Prince William County, asking for the stay.

http://www.wvec.com/news/UPDATE--Supreme-Court-considers-delaying-same-sex-marriage-in-Virginia-271698781.html

[lawgoddess]

When my son was  in his early twenties, he had a job at our church that required him to lock up after weddings.

One day he told me that he hated weddings, and when I asked him why, he said " Because I know I can never get married."

I told him that someday he would be able to.

Someday came a lot quicker than we thought.

Eight years later, he lives in Oregon, which has full marriage equality, with no federal appeals pending.

This thing has been like a steamroller!

"Let justice roll down like waters."



Thanks for the new thread, Dave.

[fritzkep]

Yeah. Virginia. We'll be getting married as soon as legally possible here.

[Sara B]

Amen to that, Fritz.

[fritzkep]

Thanks, Sara!

[CellarDweller115]

"Rest of the world"....exactly.  Here in the US things are moving along, but my heart goes out to those in Africa and Russia.

[fritzkep]

Well, the Supreme Court has issued the stay on overturning the marriage ban. I'm almost surprised they didn't wait till 7:59 tomorrow morning, when the ruling was supposed to go into effect at 8.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

When the Supreme Court is not in session, isn't ONE of them picked to
handle things like this?  Do we know which one it was? Although, it was
pretty much a guarantee this would happen, since they did the same thing
in a similar situation with Utah.

Looks like these cases will be going to the court next term.  If they decline
to hear the Utah or Virginia case it will mean those states only will then have
marriage equality, but they're going to have to rule on it eventually. I believe
Boise and Olson took the VA case cause they wanted it to go to the Supreme
Court. They were hoping the Prop 8 case would go there, but there were
so many legal challenges and delays along the way that it finally got stopped
with a technicality. (Standing.)

While nearly all federal and state courts have ruled in favor of same-sex marriage since the high court issued two landmark decisions in June 2013, judges have blocked nearly all such marriages while the cases are appealed. The justices had stepped in once before, in Utah, to do just that.

"While we are disappointed that marriages will have to wait, this was not unexpected," Tim Bostic said. "We feel that this case deserves to be heard by the Supreme Court and be finally decided for all Americans."

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage. It remains illegal in the remaining 31 states, although Colorado, Nevada and Wisconsin allow domestic partnerships or civil unions.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/20/gay-marriage-virginia-supreme-court/14282579/

It seems inconceivable that the court would stop 20 states from marriage equality, but I wouldn't
put it past five of them. Just as a hypothetical, what do you think would happen if they did do that?

[killersmom]

UPDATE III: Supreme Court Blocks Virginia Same-Sex Marriage – Order By Full Court

With just hours to spare, the full U.S Supreme Court has just halted all Virginia same-sex marriages that were slated to begin tomorrow.

The Chief Justice was originally petitioned, but this afternoon's ruling is unsigned, indicating it is from the full court.

"Although Chief Justice John Roberts is responsible for stay requests in the Fourth Circuit, the order indicates he referred the matter to the entire court," Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade reports. "The vote by the Supreme Court on the decision isn’t included in the order."

The request came from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), representing Michèle McQuigg, who filed suit against Timothy Bostic, the lead plaintiff in Bostic v. Schaeffer.

The original case was filed last year as Bostic v. McDonnell, then, as Bostic v. Rainey, and now, as Bostic v. Schaefer. The request for a stay was McQuigg v. Bostic.

http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/breaking_supreme_court_blocks_virginia_same_sex_marriage_order_by_full_court

[fritzkep]

Yeah. Grrrrr.

I expect for McQuigg it's a meal ticket, which will last until the final Supreme Court decision.

After that she can try her hand with the Religious Right martyrs' circuit.

[janjo]

Equal marriage is an idea thats time has come. I feel sure that nothing will stop it now, and eventually it will spread all over the world.
Unfortunately it will take longer in some places than others.

[fritzkep]

At the 7th Circuit trial of the Wisconsin marriage ban today, all three justices, including a Reagan appointee, slammed the defenders of the ban. Some of the comments are fantastic too!

http://www.joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/08/first-report-from-seventh-all-three.html#disqus_thread

http://www.joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/08/seventh-circuit-audio-is-now-online.html#disqus_thread

http://www.joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/08/ap-reports-on-seventh-circuit.html#disqus_thread

"Tradition per se is not a grounds for continuing... 'We've been doing this stupid thing for 100 years, a thousand years, we'll keep doing it, because it's tradition'. You wouldn't make that argument? Don't you have to have some empirical or some practical or common sense basis for barring these marriages?..."

"What if men stopped shaking hands, it would be the end of the nation, right? Right?"

[jack]

the audio for the trial should become a sitcom, the discomfiture of the defendants and the snark of the justices was hilarious.  go find it and listen, reading it doesn't do it justice...

[atruant]

Yeah. Virginia. We'll be getting married as soon as legally possible here.

So it will just take a little bit longer, Fritz, but it will happen! And we want to be there when you do!!