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Mexico: Christians Ask Mexico AG to Block Mexico City Gay Marriage Law

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Christian groups on Thursday said they had asked Mexico’s attorney general to overturn a newly-voted Mexico City law allowing gay marriage and the possibility of adoption, because it was “unconstitutional.” The capital’s legislature approved gay marriage on December 21, in the first such law passed anywhere in Latin America.

The Contraternice group of Evangelical churches and the College of Catholic Lawyers said they believed the new law that “allows marriage between people of the same sex and the possibility to adopt” was unconstitutional, a statement said.

The complaint was based on “Christian principles,” but also included legal issues on which the Supreme Court should decide, including possible violations of the Constitution and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it added.

Full Story from the Laredo Sun: http://www.laredosun.us/notas.asp?id=2772

Click here for gay marriage resources in Mexico.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in ag, attorney general, block, Christians, Gay Marriage, law, marriage equality, mexico, mexico city, same sex marriage | No Responses »

NH: Lesbian Couple Marries in Nashua as Gay Marriage Law Takes Effect

Friday, January 1st, 2010

In a candlelit church brimming with family and friends, Jennifer Morton and Michelle Morrison heard an announcement they’ve waited 13 years for: they were, at long last, married. At the stroke of midnight, the couple joined in a rousing chorus of Auld Lang Syne at their church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua, and then rang in the New Year by observing the moments-old law allowing gay couples to marry in New Hampshire.

“It’s very exciting,” Morton said. “I’m really glad it happened in our lifetimes. I didn’t know if it would.”

Morton and Morrison, both 38, celebrated their marriage with their two children, 150 friends, family and much of the congregation. The event was open to everyone in the church, making part New Year’s party, part wedding, part landmark moment.

Full Story from the Nashua Telegraph: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/510227-196/nashua-couple-weds-as-gay-marriage-becomes.html

Click here for gay marriage resources in New Hampshire.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in Gay Marriage, law, marriage equality, new hampshire, nh, same sex marriage | No Responses »

Canada: Prince Edward Island Changes Laws to Reflect Gay Marriage Legality

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Same-sex couples have been able to get married in Prince Edward Island since June 2006, but the CBC reports that it was only this weekend that the province’s laws were changed to fully reflect that.

The Domestic Relations Act was proclaimed over the weekend, after receiving royal assent earlier this year. The act changes 29 pieces of provincial legislation to replace references to “man and woman” and “husband and wife” with gender-neutral terms.

The CBC reports:

Now that the legislation has been proclaimed, the government can get on with processing a backlog of requests, said Jessie Frost-Wicks, a departmental solicitor with the Office the Attorney General…

Full Story from Xtra.ca: http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/post/2009/12/21/Days-before-2010-PEI-proclaims-gay-marriage-amendments.aspx

Click here for gay marriage resources in Canada.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in canada, Gay Marriage, law, PEI, prince edward island | No Responses »

Austria: Parliament Passes Gay Civil Unions Bill

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Austria’s parliament passed legislation Thursday allowing homosexual couples to enter into civil unions, a move hailed by proponents as a historic win for gay rights in the country. The bill, slated to become law Jan. 1., will give same-sex couples a series of rights enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts, including access to a pension if one partner dies and alimony in the event of a split. It bans the adoption of children or artificial insemination.

“We are living in the 21st century and I’m very glad this step is being taken today,” Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner said during parliamentary debate leading up to the vote.

Christian Hoegl, co-president of the Homosexual Initiative Vienna, Austria’s oldest group of gays and lesbians, agreed.

Full Story from the AP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hDt8Yq8oetIOgJKLxdZGsNAvWNDwD9CGHIAO1

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in austria, bill, civil unions, Gay Marriage, law, parliament, passes | No Responses »

How Does Spousal Privilege Apply to Gay Marriage?

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

The recent endorsement of same-sex marriage by a few states is raising some unexpected but inevitable legal issues. Specifically, the Volokh Conspiracy points out that courts now need to grapple with the effects of same-sex marriage on civil litigation and criminal trials. To wit, do the confidentiality provisions for spouses shield same-sex partners from having to testify against one another?

Complicating the matter is the interaction between statutes and common law principles as well as the interaction between state and federal law. For those who don’t know (including our European readers, many of whom would be completely unfamiliar with a common-law legal system), statutes are laws created by legislatures and applied by the courts through a process of interpreting their text and underlying principles. Common law principles are creations of courts, based on lines of precedent that draw on previous decisions and doctrines of interpretation going back in some cases hundreds of years. When in conflict, statutes override common law, for the simple reason that any product of a legislature is more democratic and legitimate than a creation of a court.

With regards to state and federal law, under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution as well as many interpretations of other Constitutional clauses, federal law trumps any state laws that are in conflict provided (and this is important) that the provision relates to an area of law not reserved to the states. With the exception of criminal acts that cross state lines and a few provisions relating to national security or other narrow federal interest, most criminal laws are exclusively matters for the states. Most civil lawsuits are usually also governed by state laws, even when pursued in a federal court due for jurisdictional reasons. (Yes, this means that federal courts are often called upon to apply state laws.)

Full Story from the Poll Gazette: http://www.poligazette.com/2009/11/01/conflicting-approaches-to-same-sex-marriage-raise-legal-issues/

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in federal, Gay Marriage, law, legal, spousal privilege, state | No Responses »

Uruguay Congress Passes Legal Guidelines for Sex Changes

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Uruguay’s congress Monday approved a sex change law, the latest liberal move by the tiny South American nation which has also given the nod to civil unions for gays and adoptions by gay couples.

The sex change bill, approved by the Senate on Monday and last month by the Chamber of Deputies, sets the legal guidelines for men and women who want to change from one gender to the other.

“Every person has the right to freely develop their personality in accordance with the proper identity of their gender, independent of their biological, genetic, anatomic… identity,” reads the text.

Full Story from AFP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5it9NT4_MzPR73Wi9R-L1cFM7cMyg

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in congress, guidelines, law, sex change, uruguay | No Responses »

Nevada Domestic Partner Law Takes Effect October 1st

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Nevada officials say they are expecting 1,400 couples to apply for a gay-inclusive domestic partnership on Thursday, October 1, the first day the law goes into effect.

The state began accepting applications for domestic partnerships in late August.

“We have received nearly 700 registration forms,” Pam duPré, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Ross Miller, told On Top Magazine in an email. DuPré added that officials expect to hand out an additional 700 applications on Thursday.

Full Story from On Top Magazine: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=4611&MediaType=1&Category=26

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Nevada.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com with “subscribe blog” as the subject. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in domestic partnership, law, nevada, nv, october 1st, takes effect | No Responses »

Uruguay Considering Gender Identity Respect Law

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

The tiny South American nation of Uruguay continues to outpace America in the arena of GLBT equality: after allowing gays to serve in the military and preparing the way for family equality in the realm of adoptions for same-sex parents, Uruguay is now on the way to approving a law that respects each individual’s gender identity.

Though most people identify with their anatomical gender, there are some who feel that their true selves are trapped in bodies of the wrong sex.

Such transgendered individuals have become more visible in recent years, but in the United States they, like gays and lesbians, are afforded only limited rights and protections relevant to their status as sexual minorities. To date, there are no federal protections in place for transgendered citizens, just as not federal statutes offer protection to gays and lesbians.

Full Story from Edge Boston: http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=96676

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com with “subscribe blog” as the subject. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in gender identity, law, transgender, uruguay | No Responses »

Lambda Legal, Fair Wisconsin Submit Briefs in Defense of Wisconsin Domestic Partner Law

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Gay rights groups have urged the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reject a challenge to the state’s gay-inclusive domestic partnership registry, Wisconsin Radio Network reported.

The group Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) and the Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) have asked the state Supreme Court to strike down the law, arguing that it is prohibited by the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriage approved by voters in 2006. WFA supported the passage of the anti-gay marriage amendment as the Family Research Institute.

Despite being challenged, the law that gives gay and lesbian couples access to 43 rights, most of which center around estate planning and hospital visitation issues, took effect last month.

Full Story from On Top Magazine: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=4581&MediaType=1&Category=26

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com with “subscribe blog” as the subject. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in briefs, domestic partnershp, Gay Marriage, law, lawsuit, wi, wisconsin | No Responses »