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MA: AG Coakley Asks Judge to Strike Down DOMA

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

The Massachusetts attorney general, Martha Coakley, requested that a federal court in Boston yesterday strike down the federal ban on gay marriage, arguing that it interfered with the rights of individual states to define marriage and have those unions recognised by the federal government.

The Assistant Attorney General, Maura Healey, pointed out that historically, states have had the right to define marriage on their own terms and that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) could result in the denial of Medicaid and other benefits to same-sex married couples in the state.

However, Christopher Hall, a lawyer for the US Justice Department, said that the federal government was well within its rights to set eligibility requirements for federal benefits and that his included the law that such benefits would only go to opposite-sex married couples.

Full Story from Pink News

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.

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NY: AG candidate Promises to Sue Federal Government to Repeal DOMA if Elected

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said yesterday that she plans to sue the federal government over the Defense of Marriage Act if she becomes New York’s next attorney general.

“It’s time attorneys general around the country begin to challenge the legality of this discriminatory law,” Rice said. “I will be proud to be among the first AG’s to challenge DOMA and to tell the federal government that New Yorkers refuse to be subjected to government-mandated discrimination.”

The lawsuit would allege that by defining marriage between a man and a woman, DOMA infringes on state’s rights to define and regulate marriage as they see fit. Although same-sex marriage is not legal here, New York does recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

Full Story from City Hall

Click here for gay marriage resources in New York.

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TX: Attorneys Argue Gay Divorce Case in Court

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

A man seeking to end his same-sex marriage in Dallas County is arguing an ironic point in a state that doesn’t recognize his nuptials: Grant the divorce and there will be one less gay marriage in Texas.

“My client is a married man and he needs a divorce,” said the man’s attorney, Jody Scheske, who argued that granting the divorce promotes the state’s policy against gay marriage. “But for the actions of the attorney general, there would already be one less same-sex marriage in Texas.”

That argument came Wednesday before a three-judge panel in the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas that is hearing arguments after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott appealed a state district judge’s ruling in October to grant the divorce. In her decision, Judge Tena Callahan also ruled that the state’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.

Full Story from Dallas News

Click here for gay marriage resources in Texas.

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.

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TX: AG’s Appeal of Gay Divorce to Be Heard in Dallas Today

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

A precedent-setting case goes before a Dallas appeals court on Wednesday. It involves two men, married in Massachusetts, who want a divorce in Texas.

The state is likely to argue at the George Allen Courthouse later today that if Texas does not recognize a same-sex marriage, how can it allow for a same-sex divorce?

This case involves two Dallas men who married in Massachusetts in 2006. They are now pursuing an amicable divorce as residents of the state of Texas.

Full Story from KVUE

Click here for gay marriage resources in Texas.

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.

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TX: AG Appeals Divorce of Lesbian Couple

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

Yesterday, Eve Conant reported on the difficulties same-sex couples face when they seek to end their partnerships. In some cases, partners who get married in one state find themselves unable to get divorced in another (most states have no residency requirements for marriage, but do for divorce). The inability to divorce creates a series of legal, financial, and childcare problems, while also preventing those in the failed partnership to move on with their lives.

Conant opened the story with two women who seemed to have beaten the odds. Angelique Naylor and Sabina Daly, who were married five years ago in Massachusetts, finalized their divorce in the state of Texas last month, making them the first gay couple to be legally divorced in that state. The only thing that could overturn the divorce was an appeal by the Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Today Naylor says she received her notice of appeal in the mail. The fate of Daly and Naylor’s marriage now lies in the hands of the appeals court, who will also hear the case of two Dallas men who were granted divorce but were unable to finalize the proceedings due to the attorney general’s appeal. Abbott wants the courts to “void” the marriage, a process often used in cases of incest, and one that would essentially nullify the marriage as invalid.

Full Story from Newsweek

Click here for gay marriage resources in Texas.

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.

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CA: GOP AG Candidate Runs for Office With Anti Gay Prop 8 Team

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

John C. Eastman, seeking the Republican nomination for California attorney general, could become a new face in the fight to block same-sex marriage. His candidacy threatens to further shrink the GOP’s dwindling market share among California voters, even as he seeks to use the campaign apparatus that won the epic battle to ban same-sex marriage in 2008.

Eastman has surrounded himself with prominent players from the Proposition 8 campaign. His campaign firm, Schubert Flint Public Affairs, ran the Yes-on-8 campaign. Several of his donors were major contributors to the effort.

And a conservative Christian group called National Organization for Marriage, based in New Jersey, already playing in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate here, proclaimed Eastman’s candidacy to be of prime interest. “We view this race as one of the most important races in the country,” said Brian Brown. The group was a major Yes-on-8 fundraiser.

Full Story from the Sacramento Bee

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

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.

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RI: Group Asks AG Candidates to Stand Up for DOMA Court Challenge

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

‘Defend the Law’ queries attorney general candidates across New England as to whether they would support Coakley’s lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act.

After pursuing responses from candidates for the position of Connecticut’s attorney general, Paul Sousa’s ‘Defend the Law’ campaign has set its sights on Rhode Island. Through e-mails and phone calls, Sousa and Defend the Law supporters query candidates as to whether – if elected – they would support Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

“On the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Web site, it prominently states: ‘Protecting our families is a primary concern of the Attorney General,’” Sousa, the campaign’s creator and a student at the Boston College Law School, said. “The question we’re here to ask these candidates is whether they will defend all citizens and families of Rhode Island and file suit against Section 3 of DOMA, which denies all 1,138 federal marriage benefits to those married same-sex couples in Rhode Island.”

Full Story from Bay Windows

Click here for gay marriage resources in Rhode Island.

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.

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TX: Judge Blocks AG Attempt to Intervene in Lesbian Divorce Case

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

A Texas judge has refused Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s attempt to intervene in a gay divorce case, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Abbott filed a motion to block the divorce of Sabina Daly, 41, of San Antonio, and Angelique Naylor, 39, of Austin, on February 10, a day after Travis County District Judge Scott Jenkins had granted the couple a divorce. The women married in Massachusetts in 2004.

At the time, Abbott said he was concerned that the divorce would force the state to recognize the existence of gay marriage. “A divorce is an ending or a termination of a valid legal marriage,” Abbott said. “In this instance there was no valid legal marriage recognized by the state of Texas. Texas can’t have a faulty precedent on the books that validates an illegal law.”

Full Story from On Top Magazine

Click here for gay marriage resources in Texas.

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.

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MD: GOP Effort to Impeach AG after Gay Marriage Decision Fails

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

A House of Delegates committee rejected Wednesday a Republican lawmaker’s attempt to impeach Maryland’s attorney general over an opinion he issued recently on same-sex marriage.

Del. Don H. Dwyer Jr. of Anne Arundel County had asked fellow delegates to initiate the impeachment process for Douglas F. Gansler, a Democrat, who said Maryland should recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Dwyer says Gansler’s opinion wrongly overturned state policy on such unions.

The House Judiciary Committee rejected Dwyer’s effort, voting 15-5 that Gansler’s conduct did not merit impeachment proceedings. Del. Susan McComas, a Harford County Republican, joined the Democrats on the committee in opposing impeachment. The chairman abstained from voting, and one member was absent.

Full Story from the Baltimore Sun

Click here for gay marriage resources in Maryland.

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.

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MD: Hearing 3 PM on Possible Impeachment of AG Doug Gansler

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Just received this from Equality Maryland:

Dear Friends,

I’m writing to you from Annapolis with a quick update on Delegate Don Dwyer’s attempt to impeach Attorney General Doug Gansler.

As you know, Attorney General Gansler’s office released an opinion back in February indicating that state agencies should begin recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages. In response, anti-equality lawmakers have tried every legislative maneuver possible to counter the attorney general’s legally sound opinion. Thanks to your support and the dedication of our legislative allies, we have been able to successfully stop all of these attacks.

But sound legal advice and sheer common sense did not stop Delegate Don Dwyer from attempting to impeach the Attorney General over his legal opinion today on the floor of the House of Delegates. His resolution was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. The Committee will be holding a hearing this afternoon at 3:00 in the Lowe House Office Building, Room 100 – please consider joining us if you are able to get to Annapolis.

Delegate Don Dwyer’s circus today should have no place in any statehouse – let alone in Annapolis. You can help show Delegate Dwyer the door and other homophobic lawmakers come this November by supporting the Equality Maryland Political Action Committee (PAC). Your contribution to the PAC will provide Equality Maryland with the necessary resources to wage a pro-equality campaign in the upcoming state-wide elections. Click here to make your donation and stand with us in our efforts to elect fair minded lawmakers.

Only 11 days remain in the 2010 General Assembly session. Rest assured our team will continue to do all that we can to ensure that the Attorney General’s opinion is upheld and that pro-equality legislation advances, but we cannot do it without your support.

Please consider making a difference today by helping us kick Delegate Don Dwyer and his friends out through the voting booth come November!

Yours in Equality,

Morgan Meneses-Sheets
Executive Director

P.S. At the close of session on April 12th, we will have less than six months to really make a difference in the 2010 state-wide elections. Please, be generous in your donations to our political action committee. You can donate online by clicking here or send a check to 1201 Sharp Street, Suite 109, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230.

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