And another one bites the dust. Since last year’s Supreme Court decision, anti-gay state marriage laws have been biting the dust everywhere they are challenged.

Friday, a federal judge from Ohio’s Southern District indicated that he would require Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in other states. Judge Timothy S. Black heard arguments from four same-sex couples who are seeking to have both parents listed on their child’s birth certificates.

The written ruling comes on April 14, but Judge Black said that Ohio’s refusal to recognize valid same-sex marriages violated constitutional protections, according to lawyers from both sides. Furhter, he indicated that he would issue a permanent injunction, barring the state from denying all the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples who were validly married elsewhere.

While the ruling does not allow same-sex couples to legally marry within the state, it is a huge step forward.

“This is a huge day for married same-sex couples in Ohio and, most significantly, for their children,” Susan Sommer, director of constitutional litigation for Lambda Legal, which argued the case, told the New York Times. “Children already born and children soon to be born were being forced by Ohio to travel through life without the security of an accurate birth certificate and without the state’s recognition that they have two parents, not just one.”

The post Ohio on the verge of equal marriage first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Rachel Maddow foresees the demise of more discriminatory laws after Arizona veto.

The post Maddow anticipates fall of more discriminatory legislation first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Kenyan supporters of LGBT rights protest Uganda’s anti-gay laws in Nairobi, Kenya (Photo: Dai Kurokawa / EPA)

BY CATHERINE MORPETH
dot429

On Monday, February 24, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the country’s Anti-Homosexual Bill, also known as the “Jail All the Gays” bill, into law on live television.

The bill, which previously included the death penalty for those convicted of “aggravated” homosexuality, was passed in an attempt to toughen up on current anti-LGBT legislation. The new law includes jail time for first time offenders, those who “promote” homosexuality and those who fail to report homosexuals to the police; repeat offenders can be sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Museveni had previously promised him he would not sign the bill into effect. “I was […] very disheartened to hear.”

Read more at dot429.com

The post Ugandan President signs ‘Jail All the Gays’ bill into law first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Vernita Gray and Patricia Ewert, the first same-sex couple to be wed in Illinois, at their previous civil union in 2011. (Photo via LGBTQNation)

BY CHRIS JOHNSON
Washington Blade

A federal court in Illinois ruled on Friday gay couples can marry immediately in the Chicago-area Cook County without waiting for the marriage equality law to take effect in June. Meanwhile, LGBT advocates behind the lawsuit are interpreting the decision to mean clerks across the state should begin granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

“There is no reason to delay further when no opposition has been presented to this Court and committed gay and lesbian couples have already suffered from the denial of their fundamental right to marry,” U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, an Obama appointee, writes.

Although Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Illinois, the measure won’t take effect until June.

Read more at WashingtonBlade.com

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source

The post Court rules same-sex couples can now wed in Chicago area first appeared on Lesbian.com.

A federal judge Thursday has struck down Virginia’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman is unconstitutional.

“The court is compelled to conclude that Virginia’s marriage laws unconstitutionally deny Virginia’s gay and lesbian citizens the fundamental freedom to choose to marry,” said Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Government interests in perpetuating traditions, shielding state matters from federal interference, and favoring one model of parenting over others must yield to this country’s cherished protections that ensure the exercise of the private choices of the individual citizen regarding love and family.”

Wright repeatedly referenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1967 ruling that struck down Virginia’s interracial marriage ban in her 41-page decision.

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source.

The post Federal judge strikes down Virginia same-sex marriage ban first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Jaye (left) and Ruth Richard-Hill from Glasgow, in a mock marriage ceremony outside Scottish parliament in Edinburgh (Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA)

Scotland legalized gay marriage on Tuesday, becoming the 17th country to do so.

The Scottish Parliament passed The Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill by a whopping 105-18 margin, according to multiple sources. Scotland’s first same-sex marriages could happen this year.

“We’re doing a remarkable thing today, we are saying on behalf of Scotland to the world, loud and clear that we believe in [recognizing] love between same sex couples as we do between opposite sex couples,” Scotland’s Health Secretary Alex Neil said, according to the Daily Record.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

The post Scotland legalizes same-sex marriage first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Plaintiffs Joanne Harris and Jessi Duff (top) and Christy Berghoff and Victoria Kidd (bottom). Photo courtesy of the ACLU.

BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Washington Blade

A federal judge on Friday certified a lawsuit that two lesbian couples from the Shenandoah Valley filed against Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban as a class action.

Judge Michael F. Urbanski of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg ruled any same-sex couple in the commonwealth who is not married or legally exchanged vows in another jurisdiction can join the women’s lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Virginia last August challenged the state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman on behalf of Christy Berghoff and Victoria Kidd of Winchester and Joanne Harris and Jessica Duff in Staunton.

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source.

The post Good news in Virginia same-sex marriage lawsuit first appeared on Lesbian.com.

A Hawaii Democrat introduced on Thursday new legislation in the U.S. Senate that would ensure gay veterans discharged because of their sexual orientation have the designation of “honorable” discharge on their records.

The bill, known as the Restore Honor to Service Members Act, would apply to gay veterans who were in service prior to the lifting of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2011, when the U.S. military expelled troops for being openly gay.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), the chief sponsor, said “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal was “a watershed moment,” but his bill would address remaining issues for the estimated 114,000 service members expelled because of their sexual orientation since World War II.

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source.

The post Legislation affecting discharged gay service members introduced first appeared on Lesbian.com.

With court decisions knocking down the same-sex marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma, other states with bans are considering more creative ways of making sure marriage equality isn’t recognized. Both Kansas and South Dakota have proposed bills that would create a blanket “license to discriminate,” inviting anyone in the respective state to use religious beliefs as a legitimate reason to refuse service to same-sex couples. Both bills also protect any would-be discriminators from any legal claim or government retribution.

Kansas is somewhat more selective in their Bill, but in South Dakota, Senate Bill 67 would allow businesses and individuals to ignore any marriage that they simply don’t agree with:

“No person or any personal business may be required to provide services, accommodations, facilities, goods, or privileges for a purpose related to the solemnization, formation, or celebration of any marriage, or treat any marriage as valid for any purpose if such action would cause any such person or personal business to violate the person’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Read more at ThinkProgress.org

The post Kansas, South Dakota propose ways to continue anti-LGBT discrimination first appeared on Lesbian.com.

The Northern part of Cyprus decriminalized homosexuality on Monday, January 27; the region was the last territory in Europe to consider homosexual acts to be a criminal offense. In addition to ending the criminalization of same-sex relationships, the new Decriminalisation of Homosexuality Bill, will also set in place protections for the LGBT community. The bill prohibits the hate speech against gay and lesbian individuals and also protects against discrimination on the basis of gender and sexuality in regards to public services.

A member of the LGBT Intergroup, Marina Yannakoudakis added her hope that Cyprus’ new progressive piece of legislation will send a message to Uganda and Nigeria, two countries which recently passed laws criminalizing homosexual activity. She wants the example of Cyprus to show them that “the anti-gay legacy of Britain’s colonial past should be scrapped and not strengthened.”

Read more at dot429.com

The post Homosexuality finally legalized in all of Europe first appeared on Lesbian.com.