(Albuquerque, NM, March 21, 2013)—Today, two same-sex couples seeking the freedom to marry filed a lawsuit in Albuquerque’s district court after they applied for and were denied marriage licenses by the Bernalillo County Clerk. The lawsuit claims that the New Mexico marriage statutes and New Mexico Constitution do not bar same-sex couples from marrying, and therefore the State of New Mexico should issue civil marriage licenses to any same-sex couple who applies for one. The couples are...
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marriage equality
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell (San Francisco, CA, December 7, 2012)—Today, the United States Supreme Court announced that it will hear the challenge to California’s Proposition 8 and one challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Proposition 8 is the 2008 measure that stripped marriage equality from same-sex couples in California, and was struck down in 2010 by former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who found that the measure discriminates against...
As was widely expected, the Supreme Court today declined to take any action on three important cases involving the rights of same-sex couples, including the challenge to California’ Proposition 8 and one of several challenges to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). (See my Huffington Post blog post for a preview of the Court’s LGBTQ cases this term.) At this point, we still do not have any information about whether the Court will take any of these cases, or whether it will let the...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, June 5, 2012)—Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied review by a larger panel of judges of that Court’s February 7, 2012 decision striking down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional. Proposition 8 is the 2008 measure that stripped same-sex couples of the right to marry in California. The Ninth Circuit’s February decision held that Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution because it...
Statement by NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, May 31, 2012)—Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. The court held that DOMA, which prevents the federal government from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples even in states where those marriages are valid, violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws. The ruling came in a case...
Here at NCLR, we know that LGBTQ people of color face some of the greatest injustices our movement strives to address. Racial and economic oppression mean that LGBTQ people of color are often poorer, have worse health outcomes, and are more vulnerable to hate crimes than their white counterparts. LGBTQ youth of color face harsh and unfair discipline in schools. This weekend, the nation’s leading civil rights organization made it clear that they too understand that reality. On Saturday,...
Statement by NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, May 9, 2012)—Today, President Barack Obama told ABC News that he supports marriage equality, becoming the first president in the nation’s history to endorse marriage for same-sex couples. Said President Obama: “I have to tell you that over the course of several years, as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (Annapolis, MD, March 1, 2012)—Today, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed HB 438—a bill providing full marriage rights for same-sex couples—into law. Maryland will become the 11th jurisdiction in the country in which same-sex couples can marry when the law goes into effect on January 1, 2013. Opponents have pledged to try to put the new law up for a popular vote before it takes effect. Maryland joins seven other states,...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (Annapolis, MD, February 23, 2012)—Today, the Maryland Senate voted 25 to 22 to recognize full marriage rights for same-sex couples. The Maryland House of Delegates approved the measure last Friday by a vote of 72 to 67. Gov. Martin O’Malley, the bill’s sponsor, has already committed to signing the bill into law. Maryland will become the 11th jurisdiction in the country in which same-sex couples can marry when the law goes into effect on...
By Liz Seaton NCLR State Policy Director Words cannot describe how I felt, sitting in the gallery at the Maryland State House as we won Governor Martin O’Malley’s Civil Marriage Equality Act by a vote of 72-67 on Friday. Several of the lawyers were cloistered for a couple of days in preparation for what we thought would be dozens of hostile amendments, but in the end there were only about a half-dozen, and all were defeated, leading to the vote for final passage. We watched from the State...