Category Archives: Marriage/Relationships

Appeals court rules Indiana must recognize non-bio mom

The Republican-appointed federal appeals judges ruled January 17 that Indiana cannot refuse to put a non-biological mother's name on the birth certificate of the child her wife gave birth to.

Sparring continues among appeals courts as Supreme Court puts off marriage cases another week

The U.S. Supreme Court put off until at least this Friday (January 16) a decision on whether it will hear appeals challenging a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that said states can ban same-sex couples from marrying. Meanwhile,

Sixth Circuit GOP judges: Why not let the voters decide who gets to marry?

The three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seemed to signal pretty clearly where they’re headed on the six marriage equality lawsuits they heard arguments in Wednesday: toward the first federal appeals ruling to undo lower court

Fourth Circuit panel votes 2 to 1 to strike Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban

It was clear from the oral argument that two out of three of the judges on a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel would vote on opposite sides concerning the constitutionality of Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage. The

First federal appeals court panel weighs in; finds Utah’s ban unconstitutional

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a 2 to 1 decision Wednesday, upholding a district court decision that Utah’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples is unconstitutional.

Oregon becomes number 18, as openly gay judge rules ban is ‘completely irrational’

Oregon on Monday became the 18th state to allow same-sex couples to marry, bringing to 39 percent, the population of the U.S. now living in marriage equality states. The Oregon ban on same-sex couples marrying was struck down by a ruling

Fourth Circuit clash over Virginia ban: Whose children must the state protect with marriage laws?

The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals hearing Tuesday was, as Judge Paul Niemeyer characterized it, just one step along the way to an eventual U.S. Supreme Court ruling on whether states, like Virginia, can ban same-sex couples from marrying.

United Church of Christ lawsuit in North Carolina challenges penalty for ministers

In a first of its kind lawsuit, a group of ministers filed a complaint in federal court Monday against North Carolina’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples, saying that the law’s penalties against clergy who conduct ceremonies for same-sex marriages

Utah marriage cases cued up before the Tenth Circuit today, and next week

The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals today will become the second federal appeals court to tackle the question of whether statewide laws banning same-sex couples from marrying violate the U.S. Constitution. A three-judge panel will scrutinize the decision last

Sixth Circuit stays Michigan until Wednesday; hundreds already married

The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a stay at 5 p.m. Saturday of a district court decision Friday that struck down Michigan’s ban on same-sex couples marrying. Meanwhile, hundreds of same-sex couples married before the stay was issued.