LGBT News Appeals court legalizes same-sex marriage in VA, WV, NC, SC

Hoorayyyyyyyyyy! (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!)

 

Yes! Good news. I'm so happy that this happened right before my birthday. Yay for an early birthday gift!

Hopefully they appeal directly to the Supreme Court. The SCOTUS then has to take it up, and hopefully rule in favor of marriage equality. Alternatively, they could refuse to hear the case and it would become legal in all the aforementioned states.

 

That makes me a bit worried, to be honest. I would hate to see another Hobby Lobby-type decision. That one makes me feel like we've failed at progress. :bang:

 

This is awesome to hear, but nothing will happen for 20ish days if there are no stays, which is pretty much guaranteed to happen.

 

I should celebrate, but really I'm getting sick of how Humanity still seems stuck in the Dark Ages. Why should we even have to fight for this? Isn't is just damn obvious that there should be no gender restrictions in marriage? Are there really so many folks around who are unwilling or unable to exercise their intellects enough to realize this?

 

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!:icon_bigg:eusa_clap

 

I'm a bit of idiot about these things so bear with me. Let's say a gay marriage case goes before SCOTUS and they have another Hobby Lobby moment, what's stopping states and groups from re-implementing gay marriage bans that were lifted?

 

Using Virginia as an example, if the SCOTUS ruled against marriage equality nothing in Virginia would change. The constitutional ban against same sex marriage would still stand. Things would be exactly as they are right now.

Things get more complicated when you have a situation such as what is going on in Utah. Effectively, there are people who got married when the ban was removed, and are technically legally married under the law but the state is not recognizing the marriages. How does the Supreme Court handle that? Do they effectively nullify those marriages?

How does the Supreme Court handle people who move across state lines where marriage equality exists, and to states where it does not? How does the Supreme Court handle members of the military who are in a same sex marriage and are required by the government to move around the country. On base they are married, but the moment they step off base they are not married?

All of this is a legal and logistics nightmare. It's one of the reasons states are supposed to recognize valid contracts in other states. So, I think the most conservative ruling we could see coming out of the SCOTUS is them saying that states do not have to offer gay marriages, but they have to recognize the marriages performed in other states. This would still functionally legalize marriage equality nation wide, we could probably have a law passed in a place like Washington D.C. where people could file for a marriage license online and get it in the mail. (Assuming you can't already do that.)

Basically, we're at a point right now where even our enemies expect for marriage equality to be nation wide. No one really believes that this is not something that is inevitable. A bigger concern that I have, and something that I could actually foresee, is the Supreme Court refusing to hear the cases and making a nation wide ruling.

After all, why would the Supreme Court hear the cases if all the lower courts are making the same rulings? What's really there for them to sort out? They can let the lower courts do their dirty work for them, and never have to touch the issue directly. This may have even been what they intended in their ruling against DOMA which has made all these lower court rulings possible.

What I want from the Supreme Court is a strong Constitutional ruling in favor of marriage equality, like the one that was being laid out in the Prop8 case.

I don't foresee any situation where suddenly gay marriage is made illegal or something of that nature, which is what the most conservative Justices on the SCOTUS would want. That would invalidate pretty much everything that has come prior to this point in the pro-gay rulings.

The big question is what does Justice Kennedy love more? His attachment to states rights or to gay rights? He has consistently ruled in favor of gay rights. I see no reason for him to do a complete reversal now.

 

From what I hear, the attorney general of North Carolina no longer wishes to defend the ban in court.

 

Soon gay marriage will be legal every where .:icon_bigg(!)

 

So, are people getting married in these sates, or is it yet another 'stayed' decision?

It'll be nice to win another case where people can actually get married. I'm a bit tired of all the foot-dragging of these 'stays'. They need to make an actual decision, and shit or get off the pot.

 

S.C. will keep fighting for gay marriage ban

About what I expected

 

Huh, so from what I've read, doesn't look like anyone in these states can get married, yet. And it looks like WV is still deciding if they wanna appeal or not.

I still think this needs to be on a national level...state by state is so stupid and arbitrary, for such a basic right. Plus, not everyone can't just up and move from the state they were born in, all that easily, and why should they have to?

 

Yea gay = stay in all of these cases which disappoints me immensely.

Equality On TrialNorth Carolina's attorney general will no longer defend state's same-sex marriage ban » Equality On Trial

This was good news although who knows what it means for couples in NC right now.

Great website, btw.