In a movement for equality, legal decisions and actions are like building blocks: Each one sets the stage for the next.Two developments this week illustrate this point — and they are big.
The Virginia attorney general will announce today that his office has concluded Virginia’s bans on marriages for same-sex couples are unconstitutional, and he will no longer defend legal challenges to the bans now pending in federal court.
The Obama administration today announced that it will recognize as lawful the marriages of 1,300 same-sex couples in Utah, even though the state government is refusing to do so.
Lambda Legal today asked a U.S. District Court judge to combine two separate lawsuits filed against Houston Mayor Annise Parker and the City of Houston, one seeking to prevent and the other to preserve the extension of spousal benefits, including health insurance, to the same-sex spouses of city employees.
The joyful celebration of weddings in Utah screeched to a halt this morning, as the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay, pending resolution of the state government’s appeal. The stay is a cruel blow to those who desire to marry now.