GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau has announced its unconditional support for the overturning of bans on same-sex marriage in Florida. Florida’s prohibition of same-sex marriages, including a ban on recognizing same-sex marriage performed in states where it is legal, may be repealed this year pending the outcome of two…
In a historic day, a federal judge in Indiana struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, followed almost immediately by the first appellate level win since last year’s Windsor decision as the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that struck down Utah’s ban late last year. “I remember like it…
WASHINGTON – Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder harshly condemned a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) policy that prohibits gays and lesbians from serving as Scout Leaders. While the group’s National Council recently voted to end a longstanding ban on gay youth in Scouting, it left in place a policy that bars gay and lesbian adults,…
Today seven same-sex couples in North Dakota filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the state’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality. Before today, North Dakota was the last remaining state with a marriage ban and no court case challenging it. The case was filed by Minneapolis attorney Josh Newville, who recently filed a similar case…
NEW YORK — The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) joined as plaintiff in a pending Federal District Court lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban. Among the suit’s charges is that North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage restricts the rights of individuals to freely practice their religion and therefore violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment…
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in two consolidated marriage cases challenging Oregon’s ban on marriage equality, known as Measure 36. Judge McShane’s is the latest in a string of rulings striking down state laws or constitutional amendments that ban marriage for same-sex couples. The cases were both filed…
Last night, a federal judge ruled that Idaho’s ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional. In her ruling flagwrote, “Idaho’s Marriage Laws withhold from them a profound and personal choice, one that most can take for granted. By doing so, Idaho’s Marriage Laws deny same-sex couples the economic, practical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of marriage, relegating…
WASHINGTON – Friday, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled in Wright v. Arkansas, striking down Arkansas’ ban on same-sex marriages. Following Judge Piazza’s ruling, Human Rights Campaign president and Arkansas native Chad Griffin issued the following statement: “I want to congratulate the plaintiffs in this case, as well as lead attorney Cheryl Maples and co-counsel…
Since its now famous dual rulings on same-sex marriage –striking down both Prop. 8 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – the United States Supreme Court has ushered in an era of challenges to same-sex marriage bans across the United States. No fewer than ten states have had their constitutional bans struck down…
A new report from the Williams Institute, a progressive think tank on the campus of UCLA, shows that Utah stands to gain significant financial advantage, increase tourism and create jobs if it were, in fact, to legalize same-sex marriage. The authors, E.G. Fitzgerald, Christy Mallory and M.V. Lee Badgett, have released a report entitled “Estimating…
