Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Thursday, November 08, 2012
Other Election Results of Interest
Iowans voted Tuesday to retain state Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins on the court. Opponents of same-sex marriage had urged a vote against retention because Wiggins was one of the 7 justices who voted in 2009 to invalidate the state's law that had barred recognition of same-sex marriages. Wiggins received a 54.6% vote in favor of retention. (Results.) Three other of justices who voted in favor of same-sex marriage in the 2009 case lost their bid for retention in the 2010 election. (Des Moines Register).
Tulsi Gabbard, who won the race for U.S. House of Representatives in Hawaii's 2nd Congressional district on Tuesday, becomes the first Hindu member of the U.S. Congress. (IndiaWest).
Mazie Hirono, currently representing Hawaii's 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives, won her bid for election from Hawaii to the U.S. Senate. She becomes the first Buddhist member of the U.S. Senate. (Wall Street Journal).
Monday, November 05, 2012
Down-Ballot Votes To Watch Tomorrow
- Florida's Amendment 8 would remove the state constitution's ban on public funds going to religious institutions and instead would ban, to the extent consistent with the federal Constitution, the government from denying participation in funding or programs on the basis of religious identity or belief. (Background from Naples Daily News).
- Four states have same-sex marriage issues on the ballot: Maine (Question 1); Maryland (Question 6); Minnesota (Proposed Amendment 1); and Washington (Referendum Measure 74).
- Two states have ballot issues relating to abortion. Florida: Amendment 6 which, with limited exceptions, would prohibit the use of public funds for abortion. Montana: Legislative Referendum 120 would, with some exceptions, require physicians to notify parents 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor under 16.
- In Alabama, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (known for his defense of a 10 Commandments monument in Alabama's Judicial Building) is again running for that office against Democrat Robert Vance (whose father, a federal appeals court judge, was assassinated by a mail bomb in 1989). (Background on the contest from AP).
- In Iowa, state Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins faces significant opposition from same-sex marriage opponents in his retention election. Wiggins was one of the 7 justices who in a 2009 case voted to invalidate the state's law that had barred recognition of same-sex marriages. (See prior posting.)
Wednesday, October 08, 2014
9th Circuit's Invalidation of Idaho and Nevada Same-Sex Marriage Bans Temporarily Stayed By Justice Kennedy
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Chief Justice Refuses To Stay Effectiveness of D.C. Same-Sex Marriage Law
Friday, February 16, 2024
Greek Parliament Approves Same-Sex Marriage
The Guardian reports that Greece's Parliament on Thursday, by a vote of 176- 76, legalized same-sex marriage, making Greece the first Christian Orthodox country to do so. The bill has been strongly supported by Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. However, in a provision criticized by LGBT advocacy organizations, the bill denies same-sex couples access to parenthood through surrogacy. The entire bill was strongly opposed by the Orthodox Church, According to The Guardian:
Orthodox bishops had threatened to excommunicate lawmakers who voted for the measure while the leader of the far-right Spartans party had said the law would “open the gates to hell and perversion”.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Court Grants Stay Pending Appeal In Kentucky Same-Sex Marriage Case
Perhaps it is difficult for Plaintiffs to understand how rights won can be delayed. It is a truth that our judicial system can act with stunning quickness, as this Court has; and then with sometimes maddening slowness. One judge may decide a case, but ultimately others have a final say. It is the entire process, however, which gives our judicial system and our judges such high credibility and acceptance.... It is best that these momentous changes occur upon full review, rather than risk premature implementation or confusing changes. That does not serve anyone well.Louisville Courier-Journal reports on the decision. [Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Iowa Faces Another Contested Supreme Court Retention Election Over 2009 Same-Sex Marriage Decision
Meanwhile a group of lawyers, elected officials and Democratic activists are shadowing the “No Wiggins” campaign, defending the merit selection process. The president-elect of the Iowa State Bar Association said: "We don’t want to return to the days where politics have been injected into our system, and remove the fair and impartial courts that we have, well-respected throughout this country."
Monday, February 09, 2015
Supreme Court Denies Stay Of Alabama Same-Sex Marriage Decision
Today’s decision represents yet another example of this Court’s increasingly cavalier attitude toward the States. Over the past few months, the Court has repeatedly denied stays of lower court judgments enjoining the enforcement of state laws on questionable constitutional grounds.... It has similarly declined to grant certiorari to review such judgments without any regard for the people who approved those laws in popular referendums or elected the representatives who voted for them. In this case, the Court refuses even to grant a temporary stay when it will resolve the issue at hand in several months.Reuters reports on the Court's action.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Nigerian President Quietly Signs Controversial Anti-Gay Law
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Westboro Baptist Attempt To Intervene In Same-Sex Marriage Case Again Rejected
Monday, December 21, 2015
Slovenia Rejects Same-Sex Marriage In Referendum
Tuesday, November 03, 2020
New Survey On Attitudes Toward LGBT Rights
The Public Religion Research Institute yesterday released polling results on the extent of support in the U.S. for same-sex marriage and LGBT anti-discrimination laws. The study finds that majorities of Americans favor allowing same-sex marriage, oppose allowing religiously affiliated agencies that receive taxpayer funding to refuse to accept qualified same-sex couples as foster parents, oppose religiously-based refusals to serve gays and lesbians, and favor allowing transgender individuals to serve in the armed forces. When examined by religious preference, only white evangelical Protestants had majorities at odds with the broader results.
Friday, October 14, 2022
Pre-School Teacher Sues After Being Fired For Her Stance On Same-Sex Marriage
A child-care employee who was fired by her employer for refusing to read to her pre-schoolers books that celebrate same-sex relationships has filed suit alleging religious discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment and retaliation. The complaint (full text) in Parisenkova v. Bright Horizons Children's Center, LLC, (CA Super. Ct., filed 10/13/2022), filed in a California state trial court, alleges that plaintiff's Christian religious beliefs prevent her from promoting messages that support same-sex marriage. After an initial informal accommodation, the school's director, who took personal offense at plaintiff's religious beliefs, refused to grant plaintiff a formal religious accommodation. As a prelude to her dismissal, plaintiff was forced to leave the school building mid-day in extremely hot weather. Plaintiff was terminated after she refused the requirement that she receive diversity awareness training. Thomas More Society issued a press release announcing the filing of the law suit.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Puerto Rico Concedes On Same-Sex Marriage Laws
To the extent that Commonwealth law does not afford homosexual couples the same rights and entitlements that heterosexual couples enjoy, the Commonwealth recognizes that equal protection and substantive due process guarantees mandate application of heightened scrutiny in this case. Under said heightened standard, the Commonwealth cannot responsibly advance before this Court any interest sufficiently important or compelling to justify the differentiated treatment afforded so far to Plaintiffs.Freedom to Marry website has more on the decision.
Friday, February 19, 2010
DC Archdiocese Ends Foster Care Services Over New Same-Sex Marriage Law
Thursday, October 05, 2006
New Debate Over Same-Sex Marriage In Canada
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
North Carolina Voters Approve Constitutional Amendment Preserving Traditional Definition of Marriage
Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts.With this vote, North Carolina becomes the 31st state to add a constitutional amendment preserving the traditional definition of marriage. Six states and the District of Columbia issue marriage licences to same-sex couples.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
California Catholic Bishops Defend Passage of Proposition 8
The radical change in the definition of marriage to include same-sex partners discounts both history and biology and ignores how deeply marriage—as the union of a man and a woman—is embedded in our culture, language, and laws and how foundational it is for the well-being of children and the flourishing of society. To change the definition of marriage to include any two adults diminishes the institution to mean only a legal partnership.
Under present law domestic partners continue to have the rights and benefits of married couples in the State of California. It is our conviction that it is not necessary to change the definition of marriage to protect those rights and benefits.
Friday, July 14, 2023
Catholic School's Non-Renewal of Counsellor Who Entered Same-Sex Marriage Upheld
In Fitzgerald v. Roncalli High School, Inc., (7th Cir., July 13, 2023), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the ministerial exception doctrine requires dismissal of a suit which was brought by a Catholic high school guidance counselor whose contract was not renewed because her same-sex marriage was inconsistent with the Catholic school's religious mission. The court found this to be an easy case because last year in a different decision the 7th Circuit held that a suit by plaintiff's Co-Director of Guidance was barred by the ministerial exception doctrine. (See prior posting.) The court said in part:
Our precedent makes clear that Fitzgerald was a minister at Roncalli and that the ministerial exception bars this suit. But cases like today’s—involving two plaintiffs with the same title, at the same school, performing the same duties, and bringing the same claims in our court—are rare. A fact-specific inquiry remains necessary in cases where the ministerial exception is asserted as a defense to balance the enforcement of our laws against the protections of our Constitution.
Judge Brennan filed a concurring opinion pointing out that the case could also have been resolved by relying on the statutory religious employer exemption in Title VII which would have avoided the constitutional question. Becket issued a press release announcing the decision.