The Supreme Court
Gill v. OPM:
Massachusetts v. HHS:
Windsor v. USA
Golinski v. OPM
Perry v. Brown,
The District Courts
Blesch v. Holder
The Appeals Courts
Dragovich v. US Dept of Treasury:
Pedersen v. OPM
Windsor v. USA (Petitioning to skip this step)
Golinski v. OPM:(Petitioning to skip this step)
“Not every disputed institution or practice is destined to be discredited,” the Princeton philosopher Anthony Appiah wrote a couple of years ago. Looking back, he contrasted abolition (a cause that came “to represent moral common sense”) with Prohibition (a cause eventually seen as “quaint or misguided.”)
Appiah suggested three signs of a practice that seems harmless today but will seem indefensible tomorrow (or, presumably, vice versa). First, “a particular practice is destined for future condemnation” if the argument against it has been building for a while. “The case against slavery didn’t emerge in a blinding moment of moral clarity.” Second, the defenders of current practice “invoke tradition, human nature or necessity” rather than morality. Third, the defenders engage in “strategic ignorance.” We might say they are in denial about “the evils in which they’re complicit.”Sounds about right.
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As a clergy person, it has never made sense to me that gays and lesbians are criticized from the Religious Right because of their desire to marry, when in fact, the desire to marry reflects one of the highest moral commitments traditionally admired in the church. I’ve had the privilege of performing marriage ceremonies for hundreds of couples throughout my ministry, and in each case, these couples sought marriage because they desired to take their relationship to a new level of fidelity. Surely this is a good thing. And if I understand anything about the theology of marriage, it is also a God thing. .....
The day will surely come for our country (and faith communities) when this issue will seem as senseless as old debates about interracial marriage, children of mixed racial heritage, or worse, if people of color actually have a soul. (Yes, this was a real theological debate during the days of American slavery.) I predict that state legislatures will eventually see the light of this human rights issue, and when that day arrives, there will be open-hearted, open-minded clergy ready to perform marriage ceremonies for all God’s children. And in my opinion, that will be a good day for America and a good day for churches all around this country.
Ms. Ride was not a public advocate for gay rights. Still, it’s relatively easy to imagine what she might have had to say about the situation. In 1983, she was the subject of endless questioning about being the first American woman in space, a lot of which focused on things like whether she would wear a bra or makeup in space. At a NASA news conference at the time, she said: “It’s too bad this is such a big deal. It is too bad our society isn’t further along.”Our condolences to Dr O'Shaughnessy.
They believe it takes courage to "speak out for marriage" ... heterosexual-only marriage, that is ... because people might disagree with them. Yep, that's the extent of the courage you need to speak for heterosexual-only marriage—someone, somewhere, might hold a different opinion and have the temerity to speak it. ....
Amazingly, marriage equality opponents now see themselves as the victims, catching the vapors when anyone dares to question their views. Here's the news, NOM: You are not the victim, and what you're doing may take a lot of nerve, but it takes practically zero courage. ....
There is no courage, and no honor, in keeping other people from enjoying the same rights you have. That only takes fear and cowardice.
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At the reception, I meet Will and Erwynn’s community. Their initial guest count was 80. But by June it had almost doubled, as they got more yeses than they expected and invited friends who they discovered, to their surprise, were supportive of their union. The crowd is mostly straight couples under 40. Several have brought their young children along. There are a few old friends of Will and Erwynn’s, but mostly it’s co-workers and friends they’ve made in the last two years, including a handful of people they met through Outserve, an organization for active-duty gay and lesbian service members. By Will’s estimate, 80 to 85 percent of the couple’s friends are straight. Pastor Rick is there, along with his wife. I ask more than 20 guests whether this is their first same-sex ceremony. Every single straight person says yes.
Will gives his thank-you speech. “As some of you know, we don’t have a lot of family here,” he says. “But you all being here shows us that friends are our true family.” After they hold each other close for their first dance, Erwynn remarks with amazement, “I never thought I’d be able dance with a man like this on a military installation.”
"The constitutional injury inflicted on Edie should be remedied within her lifetime," said Kaplan, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, in a statement.
Windsor's petition comes after three other cases were petitioned in late June and early July by the Justice Department and the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), controlled by House Republican leadership, regarding DOMA's constitutionality, albeit for different reasons. The Obama administration instructed the Justice Department to stop enforcing DOMA in February 2011 declaring it unconstitutional. As a result, the BLAG has sought to defend DOMA with the hope that it will be found constitutional by the courts.
Regardless of the whether the Supreme Court decides to consider Windsor's case, oral arguments are scheduled to begin in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in September.
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This is not meant in a hostile way. It’s just a reminder. If you are not LGBTQ, you have not lived the reality of being LGBT. You may empathize, but that’s different than being LGBT. Here’s a parallel. I’m not African-American. I may work tirelessly against racism, and do my best to understand the African-American experience, but I will never fully understand what it is to grow up as anything other than white in this country.
Conservative lawmakers are watching public opinion move away from them on the gay marriage issue, and now fear that voters might not approve a ban even if the GOP can put one on the ballot by winning control of the Legislature in the November elections.
The shifting views come as a bitter disappointment for the state's prominent Christian conservative community which has long bridled at Iowa's status as a gay rights haven in the heartland — the only place outside the Northeast where gays can marry.
....Iowa gay rights advocates say they are encouraged by the fact that a ballot measure would come no earlier than 2015, considering it must pass both houses of the Legislature in consecutive two-year general assemblies.
The Obama administration is squarely taking on the Defense of Marriage Act, asking the U.S. Supreme Court today to review a pair of cases challenging the constitutionality of the federal definition of "marriage" contained in the 1996 law -- while continuing to argue the law should be struck down.
In Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management, the California-based case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, DOJ is asking for the Supreme Court to take the case before the appeals court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case in September, even decides the case.
DOJ also is asking the Supreme Court to take review of another case, Massachusetts v. Department of Health and Human Services, that was decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on May 31. The House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, led by the House Republican leadership, had sought review of the case this past Friday, June 29.If the SCOTUS grants cert (they probably will) it would be in September, and arguments about 4 months later. Fingers crossed. With this court, things are far from certain to go our way.
The new president of France will legalize same-sex marriage in "the next few months," according to a statement from his officereported by Reuters....
The administration also plans to ensure adoption by same-sex couples is legal in France, and it will hold a series of discussions on what can be done to help transgender people specifically. Those moves will happen before the end of the year, administration officials have said, according to the Reuters report.
