LGBT News Court rejects gay rights cases from Ariz., Nev. (Good News)

Aldrick · Jun 28, 2013

Gay marriage proponents marked another victory Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from Arizona and Nevada involving the rights of same-sex couples.

The justices let stand an appeals court ruling striking down an Arizona law that made state employees in same-sex relationships ineligible for domestic partner benefits. The Nevada case was a challenge to the state's ban on same-sex marriage. The court did not elaborate on the reason for not taking up the cases.

The court's decisions on the two cases are not as sweeping as rulings Wednesday that made it a landmark week for gay rights.

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In Arizona, the decision means dozens of same-sex state workers will be allowed to keep employee benefits. For the Nevada case, the gay marriage ban will remain intact, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will decide the next step.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer denied Thursday that Arizona had targeted gay couples and slammed the court for not recognizing the state's right to balance its budget by limiting employee benefits.

"This case has never been about domestic partners, same-sex or otherwise," Brewer said in a statement. "It is always been about the authority of elected state officials to make decisions with which we have been entrusted by the voters."

Arizona's constitution bans gay marriage and a 2009 law signed by Brewer repealed domestic partner benefits for state workers. Brewer said the state was in a fiscal crisis and couldn't afford to extend health care benefits to employees' dependents if they weren't married. She said the policy was legal because it applied to all employees, regardless of sexual orientation.

Gay marriage proponents counter that the policy was discriminatory because heterosexual couples may marry to obtain benefits, while gay couples can't under state law.

"The state is excluding only one group of employees from family coverage and that is lesbian and gay employees," said Tara Borelli, a lawyer for Lambda Legal in Los Angeles.

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The Nevada Legislature recently approved a measure that would legalize gay marriage but changing the state constitution is a lengthy process. Lawmakers must pass the same resolution in 2015 before it goes to voters for final approval on the 2016 ballot. If it clears both hurdles, it would become law. If it fails at any stage, the five-year process must start over.

"We should just have a state law and be done with it," said Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas. "In the constitution we shouldn't be defining marriage, that's not what the constitution is for."

Not legalizing same-sex marriage will have consequences for Nevada over time, said Atkinson, who made national headlines earlier this year when he publicly announced that he was gay during the state Senate's debate on marriage equality.

"We are a tourism state and we do rely on folks visiting our state, so some may decide they're not going to come here because they don't have the same rights here," Atkinson said.
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LGBT News Court rejects gay rights cases from Ariz., Nev. (Good News)

Aldrick Full Member

Aldrick
Full Member