Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

05/31/2012

ACLU Lens: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down DOMA

By Robyn Shepherd, ACLU at 12:15pm

A federal appeals court in Massachusetts ruled today that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it denies married same-sex couples the same federal benefits available to other married couples.

The case, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, was originally filed by GLAD on behalf of several married same-sex couples and widowers in Massachusetts in 2009. In 2010, a federal judge found that DOMA violated the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment. Today’s decision upholds that ruling.

05/10/2012

Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

It's Not About the Money – Spending vs. Ideology in Congress

By Michael Macleod-Ball, Chief of Staff, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 7:31pm

The first spending bill for the new fiscal year that starts in October was adopted by the House of Representatives today after a week of wrangling. H.R. 5326 will provide funding for the Departments of Justice and Commerce as well as several science agencies – the so-called Commerce Justice Science (CJS) bill. If you listened to some in the majority, you would have thought the floor debate – which under an open rule allowed for unlimited amendments – provided a ripe opportunity for adding measures to cut spending, presumably the mantra in this time of fiscal austerity and Tea Party dominance. But some conservative writers, like those at Red State, note that cutting spending falls way down on the list of political priorities.

05/09/2012

Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

ACLU Lens: President Obama Endorses Freedom to Marry for Same-Sex Couples

By Alicia Gay, ACLU at 4:22pm

President Obama today became the first sitting U.S. president to endorse the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. In an interview taped earlier this afternoon, he told ABC News’ Robin Roberts:

“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 relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

05/07/2012

Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

North Carolinians To Vote On Anti-LGBT Amendment One Tuesday

By Mike Meno at 2:41pm

North Carolinians will go to the polls tomorrow to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment.

03/22/2013

Voices Against DOMA

A Conservative Rabbi's Case for Marriage Equality

By Jan Uhrbach, Rabbi at 2:09pm

I'm a rabbi, so I support marriage equality. My support of marriage equality is an expression of my faith...

03/22/2013

Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

Marriage in New Mexico, Civil Unions in Colorado – The Wave Continues!

By James Esseks, Director, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project at 10:36am

It seems like every time you turn around these days, someone is announcing new support for the freedom to marry, which is the result of years of groundwork that the ACLU and other organizations have laid to get us to this incredible place.

Yesterday in New Mexico, we filed a new state court lawsuit seeking the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. We have partnered with the National Center for Lesbian Rights for the litigation, and both organizations have also joined forces with Equality New Mexico and Freedom to Marry on a related public education campaign to help New Mexicans show their neighbors why the freedom to marry is so important. We're riding a wave of enthusiasm in New Mexico, as the Mayor and City Council in Santa Fe announced earlier this week that there's good reason to believe that state law already allows same-sex couples to marry. We think that's right, but know that we're going to need guidance from the courts to get a final answer, so we've filed this case both to present the issue to the courts and to illustrate why denying the freedom to marry is so unfair.

12/06/2012

Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

At Last, Love and Equality Win the Day

By Kathleen Taylor, ACLU of Washington at 1:50pm

Love and equality won nearly 54 percent of the vote in Washington on November 6^th. In approving Referendum 74, the voters recognized that all committed, loving couples, gay and straight alike, should be able to marry under state law. And this Sunday, December 9th same-sex couples will get married in homes and courthouses across our state for the first time!

11/07/2012

2012 Freedom to Marry Ballot Initiatives

A Marriage Moment (and Another One to Come)

By James Esseks, Director, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project at 11:56am

The nation has just had a marriage moment – a tipping point where voters in at least two states have affirmed the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. The vote illustrates that the country is getting squarely behind the notion that same-sex couples should be able to make the same legal commitment to each other that straight folks can. And this marriage moment provides immeasurable support for the prospect of another one next June, when the Supreme Court is likely to issue its views on marriage for same-sex couples.

11/05/2012

2012 Freedom to Marry Ballot Initiatives

Election Day for Marriage: What’s at Stake

By Selene Kaye, ACLU at 12:53pm

America goes to the polls today, and as we all know, there is a great deal at stake – from ballot measures on an array of civil liberties issues, to congressional seats, to the make-up of state legislatures, and of course, the presidency.

10/22/2012

Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

Washington State Votes by Mail to Approve Referendum 74

By Dean Jackson, ACLU of Washington at 11:11am

Election Day is in 15 days and it will be a pivotal moment for LGBT rights. Voters in three states – Maine, Maryland, and Washington – have the opportunity to be the first to grant same-sex couples the freedom to marry, and voters in Minnesota can be the first to defeat a hurtful constitutional amendment to ban marriage for same-sex couples.

Washington is a vote-by-mail state and ballots will be in voters’ mailboxes this week. Washingtoninans can start sending in their ballots to Approve Referendum 74 and secure the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples.

American Civil Liberties Union