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NY, USA: Manhattan Judge Agrees to Dissolve Vermont Civil Union

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

A Manhattan judge has agreed to dissolve the civil union of a same-sex New York couple hitched in Vermont.

Louis Viel and Gregory Williams were joined in civil union in Vermont more than a decade ago, said Viel’s lawyer, Malcolm Taub of Davidoff Malito & Hutcher. In a ruling from the bench on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper granted Viel’s petition for dissolution, a move that Taub said helped reinforce the right of similarly-situated couples to have their unions dissolved in New York.

“This provides another precedent for granting relief to same-sex couples who prior to just recently were unable to have their rights determined in the courts of the state of New York,” he said. In 2000, Vermont became the first state to offer same-sex civil unions that conferred the same rights as marriage. With virtually no residency requirement, couples from neighboring states flocked to Vermont to enter into unions.

Full Story from Reuters

Click here for gay wedding resources in New York.

Click here for gay wedding resources in Vermont.

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Tags: civil union, dissolved, judge, new york, vermont

MN, USA: DOMA Law Doesn’t Apply to Some Transgender Marriages, Judge Says

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

A federal court judge in Minnesota ruled on Monday that a marriage between a man and a transgender woman was legal under Minnesota law and that a health insurance plan could not drop the woman from her husband’s health benefits. The judge said that because one person is male and the other legally transitioned to female, the couple qualifies as legally married under the state’s Defense of Marriage Act.

The case hinged on the marriage of Christine and Calvin Radtke. The two were married in July 2005 in Goodhue County in southeastern Minnesota. Calvin works for United Parcel Service and enrolled himself and his wife in his union’s health plan. Christine had legally transitioned from male to female several years earlier.

But after Christine’s physician mentioned her transgender status in her medical file in 2008, the union’s health plan terminated her coverage. The Miscellaneous Drivers and Helpers Union Local #638 Health, Welfare, Eye and Dental Fund sent a letter to the Radtkes stating that as of April 2010, Christine would be dropped from her husband’s health-care plan.

Full Story from the American Independent

Click here for gay wedding resources in Minnesota.

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Tags: Gay Marriage, judge, marriage equality, minnesota, ruling, transgender

DE: Judge Rules that Spousal Protection Covers Gay Couple Married in California

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

Judge rules two men married in California granted spousal protections under Delaware’s newly instituted same sex law.

David Theil and Kenneth Lanza were married in California in 2008. Theil filed a sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit against his employer, Dentsply International, a dental products company. During the course of that lawsuit, the company subpoenaed documents and testimony from Theil’s spouse, Kenneth Lanza.

Theil saw that as a violation of his right to confidential communication with his spouse. This right protects private conversations between married couples, starting as soon as they tie the knot. This is where it gets tricky. The couple was married in 2008, but that was before Delaware’s civil union law took effect at the beginning of this year. But now, according to a court order issued in Wilmington on Friday, the right to confidential spousal communication does extend to the beginning of their marriage.

Full Story from News Works

Click here for gay wedding resources in Delaware.

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Tags: civil unions, delaware, judge, marriage equality, spousal rights

WA: Judge to Decide if Marriage Equality Repeal Initiative Can Use “Redefine Marriage” Phrase

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Does the same-sex marriage bill passed by the Legislature last month “redefine” the term marriage in Washington state? Gay-marriage supporters say no — that the new legislation does nothing to change the meaning of marriage. To them, “redefine” is a loaded word.

Their opponents, on the other hand, say yes — that redefining marriage is the very linchpin of the legislation. And on that point, at least, the state Attorney General’s Office sides with them.

The Solicitor General’s Office of the Attorney General’s Office is responsible for ensuring that language on all state ballot measures is clear, concise and tries to be neutral. In crafting language for a referendum on the recently passed legislation, the state lawyers say that the measure indeed “alters the current meaning of the term marriage.”

Full Story from the Seattle Times

Click here for gay wedding resources in Washington State.

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Tags: initiative, judge, marriage equality, redefine marriage, repeal, washington

TX: Lesbian Dallas Judge Refuses to Perform Weddings Until Everyone Can Marry

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Dallas County Judge Tonya Parker says she won’t perform marriage ceremonies until gay couples can wed.

During a Feb. 21 meeting, Parker told the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas that while she has the power to perform legal marriage ceremonies in her court, she will not.

“I use it as my opportunity to give them a lesson about marriage inequality in this state because I feel like I have to tell them why I’m turning them away,” Parker said. “So I usually will offer them something along the lines of, ‘I’m sorry. I don’t perform marriage ceremonies because we are in a state that does not have marriage equality, and until it does, I am not going to partially apply the law to one group of people that doesn’t apply to another group of people.’ And it’s kind of oxymoronic for me to perform ceremonies that can’t be performed for me, so I’m not going to do it.”

Full Story from NBC 5

Click here for gay wedding resources in Texas.

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Tags: dallas, judge, lesbian, marriage equality, texas, weddings

HI: Judge Denies Churches’ Request to Block Civil Unions Law

Saturday, December 31st, 2011

Come the New Year couples can officially enter into Civil Unions in Hawaii. “We have countless couples ready to enter into Civil Unions on January 1st and January 2nd,” says Alan Spector, Equality Hawaii. But, a lawsuit filed this week, tried to stop it from happening.

Emmanuel Temple, the House of Praise in Wahiawa and Lighthouse Outreach Assembly of God in Waipahu filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block the implementation of the Civil Union law, saying the law violates their civil rights and constitutional protections for religious freedom.

“The law hasn’t even gone into effect yet and they’re suing, claiming they will be forced to host Civil Union ceremonies in their churches when that hasn’t happened,” says Spector.

Full Story from KHON2

Click here for gay wedding resources in Hawaii.

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Tags: civil unions, hawaii, judge, lawsuit

CA: Federal Judge Says Prop 8 Proponents Must Disclose Donors

Monday, November 7th, 2011

A federal judge says donors to the $40 million campaign that banned same-sex marriage in California aren’t entitled to the anonymity that the U.S. Supreme Court has granted to minor parties operating in a hostile climate.

Only organizations like the Socialist Workers Party during the Cold War and the NAACP in the segregated South – “small, persecuted groups whose very existence depended on some manner of anonymity” – have been exempted from laws requiring that members and contributors be disclosed, U.S. District Judge Morrison England said Friday.

He said there is no evidence that the 7 million Californians who voted for Proposition 8 in 2008 could be considered a “fringe organization” with unpopular or unorthodox views, or that leaving donors in the public record would frighten away contributors to future campaigns.

Full Story from SFGate

Click here for gay wedding resources in California.

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Tags: disclosure, donors, judge, prop 8, ruling

Judge Orders House’s DOMA Defense Lawyers to Answer Plaintiff Questions

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Last week, we wrote about the request from Edie Windsor’s lawyers for an order compelling John Boehner’s lawyers to answer questions. Today, the Judge issued that order, telling Paul Clement that he must answer two of the key questions. I’ve posted the order here.

Here’s the key passage from the order:

The two interrogatories pressed by the plaintiff ask “What, if anything, do you contend are the compelling justifications for section 3 of DOMA, 1 U.S.C. S 77″ (Interrogatory no. 1) and “What, if anything, do you assert are the legitimate government interests rationally advanced by section 3 of DOMA, 1 U.S.C. S 7?” (Interrogatory no. 3). BLAG objects to both on the ground that, to the extent they are construed as contention interrogatories, they are premature. That argument is disingenuous; at the time BLAG responded, the discovery deadline was three days away, and it is now closed. (emphasis added).

Full Story from AmericaBlog

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Tags: defense, defense of marriage act, judge, questions

Brazil: Judge OK’s Gay Marriage in Sao Paulo

Monday, June 27th, 2011

A Brazilian state judge on Monday approved what the court said is the nation’s first gay marriage.

Sao Paulo state Judge Fernando Henrique Pinto ruled two men could convert their civil union into a full marriage. Brazil’s Supreme Court cleared the way in May for the recognition of same-sex civil unions, but stopped short of approving gay marriages.

A court statement said Pinto made the decision based on the top court’s ruling on civil unions and on Brazil’s constitution, which outlines how a civil union can be converted into a legal marriage.

Full Story from AP

Click here for gay marriage resources in Brazil.

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Tags: brazil, Gay Marriage, judge, sao paulo

MD: Judge Rules Legally Wed Lesbians Can’t Be Forced to Testify Against Each Other

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Legally wed same-sex spouses do not have to testify against each other in court, a Maryland judge ruled Thursday, leading to the acquittal of a woman charged with assaulting her wife.

Washington County Circuit Court judge Donald E. Beachley ruled that Sha’rron Snowden (pictured, left) could invoke her spousal privilege not to testify against Deborah Snowden (right), who was charged with second-degree assault and reckless endangerment after being accused of threatening to kill Sha’rron with a knife last December, reports The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md.

Full Story from The Advocate

Click here for gay marriage resources in Maryland.

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Tags: judge, lesbian couple, married, maryland, testify