Lambda Legal's Susan Sommer said the gay rights group will appeal to New York's highest court this week's ruling upholding the state's heterosexual-only marriage law.
advertisement
advertisement
|
Friday, December 16, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) — A state appeals court last week threw out a ruling that would have allowed gay couples to marry in New York City, saying it is not the role of judges to redefine the terms "husband" and "wife." The state Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled 4-1 that Justice Doris Ling-Cohan erred in February when she held that the state's domestic relations law is unconstitutional since it does not permit marriage between people of the same sex. "We find it even more troubling that the court, upon determining the statute to be unconstitutional, proceeded to rewrite it and purportedly create a new constitutional right," the appeals court ruled. Susan Sommer of Lambda Legal, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of five New York gay couples, said in response to the ruling, "You bet we're going to appeal." Ling-Cohan had ruled in favor of the couples, who sued because the city clerk denied their marriage license applications. The couples complained that their equal protection and due process rights under the New York Constitution were violated.
CLEVELAND — A portion of Ohio's constitutional amendment banning all legal recognition for gay couples violates the U.S. Constitution, a judge ruled last week, according to news reports. The decision by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge James P. Celebrezze adds to several contradictory rulings on the amendment, which voters approved last year. Tori D. Phelps had asked Celebrezze for an order of protection against her boyfriend, Brian K. Johnson, who argued that the new constitutional amendment bans any type of recognition of any sort of relationship other than heterosexual marriage. Phelps could not be granted the order. Celebrezze concluded the amendment bars him from allowing one member of an unmarried couple a protection order. He did grant the order to Phelps, however, noting that there is no "rational basis" for the state to discriminate against unmarried couples.
DES MOINES — A lawsuit on behalf of six Iowa gay couples seeks the right for them to marry, Lambda Legal announced Tuesday. "This lawsuit is about fairness and equality," Camilla Taylor of Lambda Legal said in a press release. "Since marriage is the way the government provides protection, support and respect for families, it is only fair that these couples be able to marry." Conservatives in the state responded by renewing their call for an amendment to the state's constitution banning gay marriage, the Baptist Press reported. Such a move would trump the Lambda Legal lawsuit. An amendment banning gays from marrying passed the Iowa House in March, 54-44, but did not receive a vote in the Senate, which is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The measure must pass two consecutive sessions of the legislature and then be put to a public vote.
SAN FRANCISCO — After arguing that the word "dyke" does not disparage gay women, a lesbian motorcycle group in San Francisco last week received approval for its federal trademark application for the name "Dykes on Bikes," the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The application had been rejected twice by the U.S. Patent & Trademark office on the grounds that the term "dyke" is offensive and derogatory. The decision was reversed after the motorcycle group's attorneys appealed and submitted hundreds of pages of material to demonstrate that the slang word is not negative for lesbians. The decision is a big victory, Vick Germany, president of the San Francisco Women's Motorcycle Contingent, a.k.a. Dykes on Bikes, told the newspaper. "The word 'dyke' has been used to put us down, and we have taken that name and reclaimed it as a source of pride," she said.
LOGANVILLE, Ga. — Expelled in April for kissing another girl, a lesbian teen is suing her private school, CourtTV reported. Jessica Bradley and her father, Ronald Bradley, allege that Covenant Christian Academy violated its contract with them when Jessica was expelled from the ninth grade for an "inappropriate relationship" in violation of the school's code of conduct on "sexual immorality." The Bradleys also allege that school officials invaded the girl's privacy by making details of her private life public and outing her. Jessica allegedly was expelled after school officials quizzed her and other students about whether she kissed a girl at a sleepover and asked other questions about her conduct "off-campus and in private," the lawsuit states.
|
