Overview
We have breaking news from New Mexico, where lawsuits and rulings are coming faster than ever. Plus Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is unhappy to discover his lawyers insulting gay and lesbian couples. And Tennessee is launching an aggressive campaign to overturn the state’s marriage ban.
Transcript
We have breaking news from New Mexico, where lawsuits and rulings are coming faster than ever. Plus Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is unhappy to discover his lawyers insulting gay and lesbian couples. We have new federal tax guidelines, and Tennessee is launching an aggressive campaign to overturn the state’s marriage ban.
At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, I’m Matt Baume, and welcome to Marriage News Watch for September 3, 2013.
The situation in New Mexico has gotten even stranger. We used to complain that the state-by-state approach to equality was too incremental. But now New Mexico is going county by county.
As of the end of last week, we had six counties issuing licenses: Bernadillo, Santa Fe, Doña Ana, Valencia, San Miguel and Taos. These are either the result of a court order or a county clerk deciding to go for it.
And we may have picked up a seventh county, Los Alamos. A Judge in the First Judicial District ordered that county on Thursday to either begin issuing licenses right away or show why it shouldn’t. That ruling came very abruptly — in fact, the judge ruled on the same day that the couple filed the lawsuit. That’s how fast the situation in New Mexico is changing.
In addition, Attorney General Gary King upheld the validity of some marriages from Sandoval County back in 2004, when another clerk briefly issued licenses. The current Sandoval County clerk has refused to issue licenses, and just last week a lesbian couple filed a suit there.
Meanwhile, the 25 other counties in New Mexico don’t know what to do. They’ve all asked the state Supreme Court to take up the issue as quickly as possible. According to one clerk, the Supreme Court could weigh in as early as this week.
As San Juan County Clerk Debbie Holmes put it, “I’m waiting for someone to sue me.”
In Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Corbett was forced to distance himself from his own lawyers last week. The Governor filed a suit to stop Montgomery County from issuing licenses. In a filing, his lawyers compared gay couples to 12-year-olds, saying both groups were incapable of marrying. A Corbett spokesman later called the comparison inappropriate.
Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie has proposed a marriage equality bill that could take effect in November. But only if lawmakers can drum up support for a special session, which may not be possible. If you or anyone you know lives in Hawaii, now is a crucial time to get involved. Visit EqualityHawaii.org to find out how you can help.
Tennessee held its Marriage Equality Day on August 31st. Visit TNEqualityProject.org for more on the next steps there. A survey in Ohio shows support growing, though far from robust, for equality. The IRS and Treasury Department announced that for the first time, they will recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples. And a marriage equality bill in Uruguay went into effect late last week.
Those are the top headlines, but there’s lots more happening even faster than we can report it. Subscribe here on YouTube to stay up-to-date, and at AFER.org. At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, I’m Matt Baume. See you next week.
