Displaying 1 - 10 of 458
Sixth Circuit Upholds Same-Sex Marriage Bans
By a two-to-one vote, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the right of states to ban same-sex marriages yesterday , overturning rulings in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. Going forward, the challengers in the cases can either ask the full Sixth Circuit bench to reconsider their cases (en banc) or appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
Marching toward Marriage Equality
Over the past couple of years, the number of states that have marriage equality have more than doubled, thanks largely in part to court cases. On April 28, the Supreme Court hear oral arguments on four combined cases relating to marriage equality and could potentially establish marriage equality as the law of the land in all 50 states. The joint suit is known by one of the cases, Obergefell v. Hodges.
Same-Sex Couples Score a Win in Israeli Court
Same-sex couples still cannot get married in Israel, but victories like these are welcome steps in the right direction. With this year's Jerusalem Pride less than a month away, we have good reason to celebrate.
Marriage Equality Update
Progress toward full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans seems to jump forward with every year that goes by, though we certainly have a ways to go.
Barriers to Forming Loving Families: Adoption Laws and Same-Sex Couples
After a historic summer for marriage quality and the decision by the Supreme Court to deny review of seven petitions challenging state bans on same-sex marriage, 32 states and the District of Columbia now allow same-sex couples to marry. Although these marriage equality victories helped remove some barriers to same-sex couples looking to start a family, many barriers still exist to same-sex couples—in both marriage equality and non-marriage equality states—that want to raise children.
Our Canadian Cousin’s Role in the Supreme Court’s Decision on Equal Status for Same-Sex Couples
In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 26, 2013 that the legal marriages of same-sex couples must be given equal status under federal law.
Supreme Court Marriage Equality Ruling Expected Shortly
By the end of the month, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a historic ruling on marriage equality. The joint suit – known by the first listed case of the group Obergefell v. Hodges – could establish marriage equality in all fifty states and addresses two questions:
- Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples? And;
- Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize marriages of same-sex couples performed out of state?
An Alabama Synagogue Takes a Big Stand for Marriage Equality
As the much-anticipated oral argument approaches in the marriage equality cases coming out of the Sixth Circuit Court before the Supreme Court, the fight for marriage equality within states wages on.
Beyond the Fight for Marriage Equality
“DOMA’s principal effect is to identify a subset of state-sanctioned marriages and make them unequal…for it tells those couples, and all the world, that their otherwise valid marriages are unworthy of federal recognition.” – Justice Robert Kennedy, Majority Opinion in U.S. v. Windsor
On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in this landmark case, declaring Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act – which defined a spouse as someone of the opposite sex and marriage as a union between one man and one woman – unconstitutional. Following this decision, there was a surge in the fight for marriage equality all over the country. There are currently 19 states along with the District of Columbia that have removed bans on same-sex marriage. Recently, states have been overturning bans on same-sex marriage every other week. It seems that the movement for marriage equality and LGBT rights is at its highest and most successful point. But it’s not.