LGBT rights

The Associated Press reports two developments regarding same-sex marriage litigation in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

One, a lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania state court to challenge the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage under the state constitution. A federal lawsuit has already been filed. The litigants were issued marriage licenses in Montgomery County, Pa., after PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane rejected the legality of the ban and said her office would not defend it.

Two, a lawsuit in Ohio seeking for out-of-state marriages to be recognized on death certificates has been expanded to all similary situated couples. Despite a ban on same-sex marriages in Ohio, a judge has ruled in favor of two couples on the principle that Ohio recognizes all valid marriages from other states for ministerial acts like the issuance of death certificates. Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/09/25/4341472/apnewsbreak-gay-marr...

December will be a big month in New Jersey, but not just because of the holidays. Legislators are going to try to override Governor Chris Christie's veto of a law that would authorize same-sex marriage, the Associated Press reports. The governor suggested that it should be put on the ballot for voters to decide. Republican leaders said members of the party can vote on the veto-override legislation as they see fit, the AP also reports. Assembly Member Declan O’Scanlon, who will vote in favor of the override said, “The narrative that the governor strong-arms Republicans in the Legislature is false."

The Legal Intelligencer (my journalism alma mater) reports that a Philadelphia judge has overruled preliminary objections to a defamation lawsuit brought by a plaintiffs attorney against a firm that withdrew a job offer to him. The plaintif alleges Raynes McCarty withdrew its job offer to him based on false information it allegedly received from Anapol Schwartz after he had voiced concerns to that firm's leadership over what he believed to be discrimination based on his sexual orientation, The Legal reports.

While Ohio bans same-sex marriages, a judge has ruled that a valid same-sex marriage entered into in another state must be recognized on a death certificate. Ohio recognizes marriages from other states that it would not allow under its own law, the judge said, so same-sex marriages must be given the same comity and full-faith credit. “This is not a complicated case,” the judge wrote, according to the Gay People's Chronicle. “The issue is whether the state of Ohio can discriminate against same sex marriages lawfully solemnized out of state, when Ohio law has historically and unambiguously provided that the validity of a marriage is determined by whether it complies with the law of the jurisdiction where it was celebrated.”

 The Albuquerque Journal reports the New Mexico Attorney General argues that same-sex marriage is an issue of civil rights to be decided by the courts, not to be put up as a ballot measure for voters. The New Mexico Supreme Court is going to hear the issue next month. New Mexico is the rare state that does not directly prohibit nor directly authorize same-sex marriages.

After the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that a wedding photographer's refusal to photograph same-sex weddings violates the state's Human Rights Act, the photographer is seeking certiorari in the US Supreme Court. SCOTUS Blog reports that the photography business argues that complying with the law forces them to violate their Christian beliefs and violates their constitutional right to the free exercise of religion. If the court takes up the issue it could set the parameters on how far protections for gay Americans will extend.

The Montgomery County, PA, Register of Wills who kickstarted the conversation in PA about same-sex marriage by starting to issue licenses to LGBT couples was told to stop by a Commonwealth Court judge today. The judge did not address the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania, only ruling that the judiciary, not an elected row officer who administers marriage licenses and court filings, could decide if the law should not be followed.

Meanwhile, Hawaii is preparing for a special legislative session on a bill that would authorize same-sex marriage in that Pacific Ocean state: http://reason.com/24-7/2013/09/11/hawaii-preps-special-session-to-address