Tag: Gay marriage
More Than Half of Americans Now Support Gay Marriage
56%
For the first time, a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Overall, support is up 8 points since 2012 and 45 points since 1988. “Support for same-sex marriage among Republicans increased from 31% in 2012 to 45% in 2014. This increase is larger than the increase among Democrats and independents, although Republican support still lags behind those groups.”
Gay Alabama Lawmaker Threatens to Expose Affairs Over Gay Marriage Ban
I will not stand by and allow legislators to talk about ‘family values’ when they have affairs, and I know of many who are and have. I will call our elected officials who want to hide in the closet out.
— Alabama State Rep. Patricia Todd (D) warned her colleagues there would be consequences if they continues to oppose same-sex marriage, the Times Daily reports.
Huckabee Says Heterosexuals, Not Homosexuals, Are Greatest Threat to Marriage
Marriage as an institution is not so much threatened by same-sex couples as it is by heterosexuals’ increasing indifference to it.
— Mike Huckabee, in his new book, God, Guns, Grits and Gravy.
Huckabee Hugs the Right in Response to SCOTUS Gay Marriage Decision
It is shocking that many elected officials, attorneys, and judges think that a court ruling is the ‘final word.’ It most certainly is not. The courts are one branch of government, and equal to the other two, but not superior to either and certainly not to both. Even if the other two branches agree with the ruling, the people’s representatives have to pass enabling legislation to authorize same sex marriage, and the President (or Governor in the case of the state) has to sign it. Otherwise, it remains the court’s opinion. It is NOT the ‘law of the land’ as is often heralded. The courts can’t make law. They can interpret it and even rule that a law is unconstitutional, but they have no power to create it or enforce it.
— Former Arkansas governor, former presidential candidate and former FOX News commentator Mike Huckabee, on his website, lamenting the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear same-sex marriage appeals cases.
Majority of Americans Now Live in States Where Same-Sex Marriage Is Legal
165 million
The number of people living in states where same-sex marriage is legal, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Monday to decline hearing a series of appeals cases, according to Nate Silver. The decision had the effect of immediately legalizing gay marriage in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin, for a total of 19 states and the District of Columbia. “That means for the first time, same-sex marriage is legal for the majority of the U.S. population. The 26 states where the practice is not legal have a total population of about 151 million.”
Judge Overturns Florida’s Ban on Gay Marriage in Monroe County
The Miami Herald is reporting this story:
Monroe County Circuit Judge Luis Garcia overturned Florida’s 2008 constitutional gay-marriage ban on Thursday, and ordered that two Key West bartenders and other gay couples seeking to wed be allowed to marry.
The judge ordered the Monroe County Clerk’s Office to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples Tuesday morning.
“The court is aware that the majority of voters oppose same-sex marriage, but it is our country’s proud history to protect the rights of the individual, the rights of the unpopular and rights of the powerless, even at the cost of offending the majority,” Garcia wrote in his opinion, released about 1 p.m. Thursday.
The judge gave the clerk’s office several days to prepare “in consideration of… anticipated rise in activity.”
It was unclear early Thursday afternoon whether the state will appeal the ruling. The decision applies only to Monroe County, because it was filed in front of a state judge who has jurisdiction only in the county where he sits. A judge in Miami-Dade County has yet to rule in a similar case.
