same sex marriage thread

[Godwit]

It is interesting that two of the most conservative Courts of Appeals, the Fourth Circuit and the Tenth Circuit, now have ruled in favor of gay marriage. Unless one of the other circuit courts of appeals rules the other way, the issue might never make it to the Supreme Court.

[Godwit]

County clerks elsewhere in the state, including in Las Vegas, had been holding back from issuing licenses out of an abundance of caution until the last legal questions were resolved.

Tara Borelli, an attorney for eight Nevada couples who challenged the ban, said the last obstacle was cleared after the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage withdrew its requests for a stay of the 9th Circuit decision. Nevada state officials are content to let the ruling stand.

Diana Alba, clerk of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, had earlier said her that “heart breaks” for couples who have been waiting for permits, and that her office would be open until midnight once she had authority to issue the licenses.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/n...e-sex-couples/

[Godwit]

The vote passed with 105 votes in favor and 92 opposed, making Finland the 12th European country to allow same-sex marriage and putting it on the same legal footing as its regional peers: Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The announcement that the bill had passed was met with cheers of jubilation in Helsinki's Citizens Square as a crowd of at least 5,000 people shouted "thank you!" towards the parliament building. "It's a demonstration of civic activism and it's also a sign that Finnish legislation is approaching the same level as that of other Nordic and Western countries on this very delicate and difficult issue," Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb told the crowd after the vote...

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/...arriage_debate

[Pastor Guest]

Man can make it legal, but man cannot make it right.

[Godwit]

UPDATE: In a four-page brief filed shortly after the decision was handed down, Strange formally asked the court to place a hold on his decision and anticipated same-sex marriages. The chief reason given is the expected ruling on the marriage issue from the Supreme Court following its decision to take up related litigation.

But Strange also maintains a stay is warranted because Alabama would “suffer irreparable harm” if same-sex marriages took place in Alabama only for a higher court to declare them inconsistent with state law at a later time.

“Granting a stay will not harm the Plaintiffs, but would only maintain the status quo while these issues are considered by the appellate courts,” Strange writes. “Finally, a stay will serve the public interest by avoiding the confusion and inconsistency that will result from an on-again, off-again enforcement of marriage laws.”

[Pastor Guest]

Finland: Church resignations hit 7,800 after gay marriage vote - from YLE

http://yle.fi/uutiset/church_resigna...e_vote/7660290

[Godwit]

Update: Federal judge issues a 14-day stay of her marriage order, to allow for appellate ruling.

[Godwit]

Why Russia tried to curb same-sex partner rights at the U.N. (and why it lost)


On Tuesday, member states of the United Nations voted down a proposal by Russia to curtain benefits to the same-sex spouses of U.N. employees. The vote was much more than a simple human resources question, with U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power making an appearance urging countries to vote down the Russian effort. The graph above illuminates how countries voted based on the two most prominent dimensions: global politics and domestic acceptance of homosexuality.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...d-why-it-lost/