California – Rosie O'Donnell marred her longtime girlfriend Kelli Carpenter Feb. 26 in San Francisco, where more than 3,300 other same-sex couples have tied the knot since Feb. 12. O'Donnell said she was inspired by Bush's call for an anti-gay marriage amendment to the Constitution two days earlier. "I am now and will forever be a total proponent of gay marriage," she said.
Opponents of marriage for same-sex couples asked the California Supreme Court to stop San Francisco from issuing any more same-sex marriage licenses and to nullify the thousands of weddings already performed. The lawsuit was filed Feb. 25 by the Alliance Defense Fund less than a week after two state judges declined to stop San Francisco city officials from issuing the marriage licenses. Attorney General Bill Lockyer also asked the state Supreme Court on Feb. 27 to decide whether San Francisco authorities are violating the law. The Supreme Court declined to block the issuing of marriage licenses to same-sex couples calling the arguments against it unconvinving.
365Gay.com reported Tuesday that San Francisco Mayor Gaven Newsom is under 24-hour police protection due to escalating death threats since Bush's public display of support for an anti-gay marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said March 1 that same-sex marriages would be "fine with me" if the courts or the voters change state law and make them legal. The Republican governor also has distanced himself from President Bush, who endorsed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriages.
Florida – Dozens of gay men and women filed suit Feb. 25 to challenge the state's marriage law. Most of the 171 gays and lesbians listed in the suit signed up during an impromptu petition drive at bars the night before. About a half-dozen were at the Broward County Courthouse for the suit's filing.
It is believed to be the first formal legal challenge to the state law specifying that marriage licenses be issued only to parties consisting of one male and one female. The lawsuit lists Broward Court Clerk Howard Forman as the lone defendant. He issues wedding licenses in the county.
James Stewart and his partner Wayne Clark spearheaded the signature drive, collecting most of the names in about three hours. Clark indicated more names will be added to the suit and that more suits may be filed.
Georgia – Georgia House members voted 127-to-48 on March 2 to have another vote on the same-sex marriage ban after their previous rejection of the amendment.
Feb. 26, the Democrat-controlled chamber was three votes short of the two-thirds majority required to change the constitution. The Republican-led Senate has already approved the amendment. Marriage for same-sex couples is illegal in Georgia, but the subject is not addressed in the state constitution. It was unclear how soon the House would re-debate the gay marriage amendment.
Idaho – Sen. Sheila Sorensen, the Republican chairwoman of the state Senate's leadership committee put a hold last week on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, jeopardizing the House-approved initiative. The only way around the decision is for supporters to use a parliamentary tactic to bypass the committee and move the bill before the Senate.
Sorensen said Bush's call to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage essentially pre-empted the need for the state amendment. Advocates of the amendment, which would supersede the state's 1996 law banning gay marriages, promised to fight Sorensen's decision and predicted the issue would come to a vote of the full Senate before the end of the legislative session next month.
Illinois РChicago's openly gay alderman Tom Tunney is calling the Cook County Board to approve issuing marriage licenses to lesbian and gay couples.ÊMayor Richard Daley stated Feb. 18 that he wasn't against marriage for same-sex couples and would leave the issue for Cook County Clerk David Orr to decide.
Indiana – Democratic leaders in the House have stymied efforts of Republicans who are seeking to advance a proposal for an anti-gay marriage amendment to the Indiana Constitution.
Republicans walked off the floor three times after Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer denied them a chance to advance the gay marriage proposal or bring it up for debate. The House, which Democrats control 51-49, came to a standstill Monday, Feb. 23 as Republicans sought a vote to override Bauer's decision to shelve the proposed amendment. It had passed with bipartisan support in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Iowa – The Senate Human Resources Committee on Feb. 25 approved joint resolutions 7-6 that would ask Congress and the state to adopt constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.
A similar resolution encouraging Congress to adopt a constitutional amendment was delayed in a House committee Feb. 24.
Kentucky – Legislation to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages was withdrawn abruptly amid a push to force a vote by the full House.
The proposed amendment, if ratified by voters, would have defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. It was introduced in early January but had languished in committee.
Some Democrats accused Republicans of a ploy to "smear" Democrats in the November election by claiming Democrats had refused to vote against gay marriages.
Maryland – Maryland lawmakers waded into the furor over same-sex marriage Feb. 25 with a hearing on bills that would change Maryland's constitution to ban same-sex marriages and invalidate any license a couple obtains in another state.
Maryland has a law that specifically defines marriage as between a man and woman and there are no current legal or legislative challenges to the statute. However, a Rockville couple married in San Francisco this month have said they are considering court action to gain access to the same benefits heterosexual couples have.
Missouri – The state Senate endorsed a proposed anti-gay marriage amendment to the Missouri Constitution Feb. 24 via a preliminary voice vote. If approved in a final Senate vote and by the House, the proposed amendment to the Missouri constitution would go on November's general election ballot.
Missouri law already declares it state policy "to recognize marriage only between a man and a woman" and specifically to not recognize same-sex marriages, even if performed in a state where they are legal.
New Mexico – County Clerk Victoria Dunlap announced last week that she would issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Sixty-six people received licenses before state Attorney General Patricia Madrid released a letter Friday afternoon advising that the licenses were invalid.
Despite Madrid's letter invalidating them, Dunlap said she would allow couples who obtained such licenses Friday to have their marriage recorded.
By day's end, five couples had done so. Dunlap also offered refunds, but no one had taken her up on the offer.
Dunlap said she decided to issue the licenses because County Attorney David Mathews advised her that New Mexico law was gender-neutral and a refusal to issue licenses might generate lawsuits.
New York – Mayor Jason West of New Paltz, New York made his village the first town on the East Coast to perform marriages for same-sex couples Feb. 27. The ACLU cheered his decision.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer refused a request from state health officials to block the marriages and hundreds of same-sex couples are on a waiting list to be married in New Paltz. However, Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams charged West March 2 with 19 counts of solemnizing a marriage without a license, a misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is a year in jail. West says his actions were legal and Lambda Legal said the charges against West have no bearing on the couples married.
John Shields, the mayor of Nyack, New York, said last week that the town will "accord full legal rights and responsibilities" to married lesbian and gay couples, the first instance of a local government formally saying it will respect legal marriages of same-sex couples performed in San Francisco, Canada or elsewhere.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is currently under pressure from New York politicians and LGBT activists to issue licenses to same-sex couples in the city. Bloomberg is on record opposing Bush's call for the Federal Marriage Amendment.
On March 1, Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson announced that Ithaca would begin accepting marriage license applications from same-sex couples. Peterson said she would send them on to the state knowing they would be denied, but vowed to stand by any couples who wanted to sue.
Ohio – The Rev. Jimmie Hicks Jr., a Cleveland Heights councilman has sued to stop Cleveland Heights from continuing to register same-sex couples claiming the nation's first voter-approved domestic partner registry is unconstitutional and should be overturned.
The initiative creating the registry passed with 55 percent of the vote last November in the community of 50,000.
The registry's recognition is not binding on courts, governments or employers. But supporters hope it will make it easier for couples to share employment benefits, inherit property or get hospital visiting rights.
Cleveland Heights Mayor Edward Kelley said he's confident the city will prevail in court and will continue to register unmarried couples. No hearing date has been set.
Pennsylvania – Republican Rep. Jerry Birmelin is pushing for a ban on domestic partner benefits for state employees. Birmelin said he wants to bolster a 1996 state law that defines marriage as a pact between a man and a woman by prohibiting gay couples from obtaining marriage licenses. He also seeks to ban common-law marriages between heterosexual or homosexual couples.
The bill will come up for a vote sometime after the House reconvenes March 15. Although Governor Edward Rendell opposes gay marriage, he supports same-sex benefits for state workers and would veto any legislation seeking to ban such benefits.
South Carolina – A bill that says it is against public policy to recognize legal benefits of nonmarital relationships passed the House Judiciary Committee with a 19-to-1 vote. It says the state won't recognize marriages of same-sex couples from other states. It now heads to the House floor for debate.
Wisconsin – On Feb. 24 a legislative committee voted 6-to-1 to approve an amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution that would prohibit gays and lesbians from getting married. This is the first step in a long process to amend the constitution. An amendment must pass both houses of the Legislature in consecutive legislative sessions and be approved by voters in a statewide referendum before it can take effect.
The amendment next goes to the full Assembly to vote on the measure as lawmakers face a tight time line to complete work on the amendment during this session, which ends March 11. The earliest the amendment could appear on a statewide ballot would be spring 2005.
