gay marriage

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Judge: Mississippi Clerks Can't Use Religion to Refuse Gay Marriage Licenses

Judge says Mississippi law creates inequality

(Newser) - Mississippi clerks cannot cite their own religious beliefs to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, under a ruling a federal judge handed down Monday. The effect of the ruling by US District Judge Carlton Reeves is that the state can't enforce part of a religious objections...

Desmond Tutu's Daughter Leaves Church Over Gay Marriage

Reverend Mpho Tutu-Van Furth married a woman in December

(Newser) - The daughter of Africa's most famous archbishop is leaving the priesthood over her marriage to a woman. The Washington Post reports Reverend Mpho Tutu-Van Furth, daughter of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Desmond Tutu, married Marceline Furth in December. Same-sex marriage was legalized in South Africa in 2006, but the...

Church of Scotland OKs Gay Marriage for Its Ministers

But they still won't be able to perform gay marriages

(Newser) - The Church of Scotland has voted to let its ministers enter same-sex marriages—though it says it "maintains its traditional view of marriage between a man and woman," the AP reports. The church's general assembly voted Saturday to allow congregations to "opt out" from traditional teaching...

China Court Rejects Gay Couple's Right to Marry

It's the nation's first case, but probably not the last

(Newser) - A court in China ruled Wednesday that two men should not be allowed to marry—but even the loss is being hailed as a big first step for gay rights advocates. A judge in the city of Changsha dismissed the lawsuit filed by 27-year-old Sun Wenlin, who argued that he...

Pope's New Doc on Family, Marriage: Don't Throw 'Stones'

Pontiff's 'Joy of Love' calls for embrace of the divorced, single parents—but not gay marriage

(Newser) - There's been plenty of talk of "revolution" on the campaign trail this year, and now Pope Francis wants to start his own regarding marriage, divorce, sex, and family life, issuing a major document Friday that addresses these issues while calling for one's conscience, rather than hard-and-fast rules,...

Miss. Religious Freedom Bill Signed Into Law

Governor ignores opposition from LGBT advocates and state businesses

(Newser) - On Tuesday, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed HB1523, also known as the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, into law, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. In doing so, he made it legal for businesses in the state to refuse service "because of a religious opposition to same-sex marriage,...

Manny Pacquiao Sorry for Comparing Gays to 'Animals'

Born-again boxer-politician walks back comments ahead of Senate election

(Newser) - World champion boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao is being called a "hypocrite" and "false prophet" after inflammatory statements he made about gay couples, the BBC reports. Pacquiao, who's in the Philippines' house of representatives and is running for a senate seat in May, was talking to local...

Kim Davis: It's 'Ironic' God Picked Me to Defend Marriage

Ky. clerk admits she's 'failed so miserably' at matrimony

(Newser) - Kim Davis , the Kentucky clerk jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, has been reflecting on her chaotic 2015, describing it to the AP as "a very emotional and a very real situation to all people." Davis explains she took a stand because simple...

Utah Foster Moms Can Keep Baby—For Now

Judge reverses order to place baby with heterosexual couple

(Newser) - A 9-month-old girl will be allowed to stay with her foster moms—for now—after a Utah judge on Friday revised his earlier order to remove the baby and place her with a heterosexual couple, the New York Times reports. Following a major public outcry and motions to reconsider filed...

Mormon Rule Changes Target Gay Couples, Kids

Children of same-sex couples will have to disavow their parents to get baptized

(Newser) - Gay and lesbian Mormons and their supporters are reeling over a rule change by church officials that says members in same-sex marriages can be kicked out and their children are to be barred from being baptized unless they disavow homosexual relationships. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints disseminated...

Men Told They Can't Wed— Because They're Father and Son

Penn. couple trying to annul adoption they did strictly for legal purposes

(Newser) - Roland Bosee Jr., 68, and Nino Esposito, 78, have been inseparable since they first met in 1970. "You meet someone and it just clicks," Esposito told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month. So with the SCOTUS decision over the summer to legalize gay marriage , the men looked forward to...

IRS Now Recognizing All Same-Sex Marriages

Treasury Dept. agrees: 'husband,' 'wife' apply to gay couples too

(Newser) - The IRS is making it official: The tax agency says it will now recognize same-sex marriages regardless of where they were performed. The IRS and the Treasury Department also said they will interpret the terms "husband" and "wife" to apply to same-sex spouses as well as opposite-sex spouses....

Kim Davis' Lawyers: Tweaked Licenses Are Valid

Marriage license changes were approved by governor, AG: lawyers

(Newser) - Kim Davis didn't violate a judge's order when she made a host of changes to marriage license forms in Kentucky's Rowan County, her lawyers say. Couples who sued Davis argued the changes—including the removal of her name and a note that the licenses were issued under...

'Shady' Group 'Played' Pope During His US Visit

Meet the anti-LGBT group called Liberty Counsel

(Newser) - Pope Francis' encounter with Kim Davis generated much media buzz and some clarification from the Vatican . Now the Daily Beast looks at an anti-LGBT legal group called Liberty Counsel that supported Davis and spun the story in her favor—but the profile is none too flattering. "At the end...

Tenn. Official: God, Don't Smite Us for Gay Marriage

Blount County commissioner writes resolution begging His mercy

(Newser) - With same-sex marriage now the law of the land, the commissioner of Blount County, Tenn., is proposing a resolution asking that the Supreme Being "pass us by in His coming wrath and not destroy our county as he did Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities." Karen Miller'...

Bakery Owners Won't Pay Gay Couple $135K for Cake Refusal

Claim it would cause 'financial ruin,' despite at least $515K raised via crowdfunding

(Newser) - A couple ordered by the state of Oregon to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple they refused to make a wedding cake for won't pay up—despite the fact that more than half a million dollars has been raised for them via crowdfunding, the Oregonian reports....

Pope's Comments on Plane Will Make Kim Davis Happy

Says government workers have a 'human right' to refuse gay marriage licenses

(Newser) - Pope Francis made news even while flying home to Rome after his US visit, weighing in on the issue of gay marriage with comments sure to please Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis . Asked whether government employees should be allowed to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the pope...

Until Recently, Kentucky Clerk Was a Democrat

But Kim Davis is switching political parties

(Newser) - Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, a longtime Democrat, says she is switching to the Republican Party because she feels abandoned by Democrats in her fight against same-sex marriage. Davis made the announcement while in Washington, DC, to attend the Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit, said Charla Bansley, a spokeswoman...

Kim Davis Accused of Violating Judge's Order

Deputy clerk says changes Davis made to licenses may invalidate them

(Newser) - One of Kim Davis' deputy clerks filed a notice in court yesterday claiming the sweeping changes Davis made to marriage license forms upon her return to work this week may make them invalid, NBC News reports. If that turns out to be the case, it could violate a judge's...

Kim Davis' Office Issues First Same-Sex Marriage License

Without the Kentucky county clerk's help

(Newser) - Kim Davis said this morning she wouldn't authorize any marriage licenses now that she's back at work, and she has so far kept to her word. But that didn't stop Carmen and Shannon Wampler-Collins from obtaining their Rowan County license this morning, making them the first same-sex...

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