Same-Sex Marriage Becomes ‘the Norm’ in American States

The expansion of marriage rights has made great progress in 2014. In total 18 states expanded marriage rights to same-sex couples, entirely through the courts system.

The first of these cracks opened up in December 2013 when, to everyone’s surprise, a federal judge in Utah ruled that the state’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. Although it was stayed pending appeal, it set the state for what 2014 would become: a battle in the courts for gay rights.

14^th January – Oklahoma ban ruled unconstitutional

23^rd January – Virginia Attorney general stated that he would not defend the state’s ban

10^th February – Nevada Attorney General stated that she would not defend the state’s ban

12^th February – Kentucky told to recognise same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions

13^th February – Virginia ban ruled unconstitutional

25^th February – Texas ban ruled unconstitutional

21^st March – Michigan ban ruled unconstitutional

9^th May – Arkansas ban ruled unconstitutional

13^th May – Idaho ban ruled unconstitutional

19^th May – Oregon ban ruled unconstitutional, state did not appeal ruling legalising same-sex marriage immediately in that state

20^th May – Pennsylvania ban ruled unconstitutional, state did not appeal ruling legalising same-sex marriage immediately in that state

6^th June – Wisconsin ban ruled unconstitutional

25^th June – Tenth Circuit Court rules that Utah’s ban is unconstitutional, Utah appeals to the Supreme Court

25^th June – Indiana ban ruled unconstitutional

1^st July – Kentucky ban ruled unconstitutional

9^th July – Colorado state judge rules that the state’s ban is unconstitutional

21^st July – Florida ban ruled unconstitutional, stayed until the 5^th of January

28^th July – Fourth Circuit Court affirms Virginia’s ban as unconstitutional

3^rd September – Louisiana’s ban ruled constitutional, the first set-back thanks to a court for same-sex marriage rights in 2014

4^th September – Seventh Circuit Court affirms that Indiana and Wisconsin bans are unconstitutional

6^th October – The Supreme Court declines to hear appeals in Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana, Wisconsin and Virginia

The Supreme Court’s decision on the 6^th of October was huge, by refusing to hear the appeals it effectively upheld the lower courts’ rulings and meant that same-sex marriage was now legal in those five states. This meant that for the first time in American history a majority of Americans lived in states with legal same-sex marriage! Yet the ruling would not only affect those five states, any states without same-sex marriage who were under the jurisdiction of 4^th and 10^th Circuit Courts (there were none left without same-sex marriage under the 7^th Circuit Court) were at risk of losing their bans. Over the next couple of months the six states this applied to (Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming for the 10^th and North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia for the 4^th) all had their bans overturned, whether by court action or instruction of the state government.

7^th October – Ninth Circuit Court rules that Idaho and Nevada bans are unconstitutional*

7^th October – Colorado Attorney General asks 10^th Circuit Court and the state Supreme Court to dismiss his appeals on earlier rulings, they comply immediately

8^th October – Some counties in Kansas and South Carolina issue same-sex marriage licenses

10^th October – North Carolina ban ruled unconstitutional, judge citing the 4^th Circuit’s precedence

12^th October – Alaska ban ruled unconstitutional

17^th October – Arizona ban ruled unconstitutional

17^th October – Wyoming ban ruled unconstitutional (stay lifted on the 21^st of October)

4^th November – Kansas ban ruled unconstitutional (stay lifted on the 12^th of November)

5^th November – State judge ruling in Missouri results in St. Louis issuing same-sex marriage licenses

6^th November – Sixth Circuit Court upholds same-sex marriage as constitutional

7^th November – Missouri ban ruled unconstitutional, Jackson County (Missouri’s second largest) begins to issue same-sex marriage licenses

12^th November – South Carolina ban ruled unconstitutional (stayed until 20^th of November)

19^th November – Montana ban ruled unconstitutional

25^th November – Mississippi ban ruled unconstitutional

19^th December – Supreme Court declines to hear Florida’s appeal, marriages will begin on the 6^th of January

The 6^th Circuit Court’s ruling on the 6^th of November is especially important as it was the only circuit court to rule against same-sex marriage. This created a circuit split, which means that the Supreme Court has no choice but to rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. This is why I believe that same-sex marriage will become legal in all 50 states by the end of 2015.

Britain - the Best Place to be Gay

Britain has been revealed to be the best place to be gay in Europe, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). The organisation rates countries based on their treatment by the law, rather than by society at large. It rates countries based on five categories (the percentage indicates how much it contributes to the final score)

1.       Laws & policies against discrimination (25%)

2.       Family recognition (25%)

3.       Protection against hate speech/crime (20%)

4.       Legal gender recognition (15%)

5.       Respect of freedom of assembly, association & expression (10%)

6.       Asylum (5%)

Britain scored 82%, coming in well ahead of Belgium (78%) and Spain (73%). It should not surprise you that Russia had the poorest score of only 6%, marginally worse than Azerbaijan (7%) and Armenia (9%).  Malta wins the award of most improved country, the country added 22% to their old score of 35%, which means that they are now one of only fifteen countries to have a score greater than 50%. Montenegro also improved significantly over the past year, adding 20% to their score of 27%, meaning they are just short of 50%. Bulgaria was the third best improver, increasing from 18% to 30% (a change of 12%).

The mean score for Europe unfortunately only went up 3% from 33% to 36% and only 15 countries are above 50% (Austria, Croatia and Malta are the new members of this group). The split in Europe can be seen clearly when you look at non-EU versus EU countries. The average for the EU is 46% whereas for non-EU countries the average is a measly 24%.

Thankfully it looks likely that Europe’s improving rights for LGBTI* individuals will improve again for the 2015! Already there are bills pending or proposed in 15 countries that would improve the recognition of same-sex couples**.

Britain’s score of 82% is an improvement of 5% on 2013’s score. The improved score was as a result of increased recognition of same-sex families and gender identity. The legalisation of same-sex marriage in England & Wales, and Scotland was the most important factor here. Northern Ireland also finally equalised adoption rights for same-sex couples. There’s a certain irony to Britain being the world’s leading voice when it comes to LGBTI rights. When Britain colonised the world it brought with it its homophobic laws and ideas to places which previously had none. If you look at a map of the countries which still criminalise same-sex relationships, they tend to fall into two of the following categories: Muslim majority or former British territory. A legacy like this is embarrassing to say the least, but the best we can do it show how wrong we were and continue to lead the world on gay rights issues.

For more information visit ILGA's website: http://www.ilga-europe.org/home/publications/rainbow_europe

*lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans & intersex

**Full marriage bill pending in Andorra, Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Civil union (or equivalent) bill pending in Croatia and Italy, proposed in Cyprus.

Other recognition of same-sex couples bill pending in Austria, Estonia, Germany, Greece and Poland, proposed in Albania, San Marino and Slovenia.

In Ireland same-sex marriage is to go to a referendum in 2015, highly likely to succeed.

In Defence of Homophobes

Gay rights has made great progress across the West in recent years. At the start of this century not a single jurisdiction recognised same-sex marriage, now 19 countries (or parts of them) recognise same-sex marriage. In the US 17 states still had sodomy laws that banned gay sex in 2000.

As a direct result, being homophobic is becoming increasingly unpopular, so much so that it is causing people to lose their jobs! Earlier today the news broke that two brothers, David and Jason Benham, had their show on HGTV (an American channel) cancelled before it even started. Why? Right Wing Watch published an article in which it accused them of being virulently homophobic, with evidence attached. This caused the collective outrage machine, also known as the internet, to attack the brothers and demand that HGTV cancel their show. Back in March Mozilla Firefox appointed Brendan Eich as its CEO. This angered many gay rights activists who were upset at a $1000 donation Eich had made back in 2008 to California’s Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage. They demanded Eich’s head, and with the serious threat of a boycott, he resigned on the 3^rd of April, he lasted just ten days.

So is it right to fire people for their opinions, especially when those opinions are shared by millions within their respective country? I say no, we all have opinions which others would be horrified by, how would we feel if we got fired because of our opinions. So long as it doesn’t affect the ability for you to do your job, and it’s not illegal, you shouldn’t be fired, in my opinion.

Sarah Palin was one of many conservative politicians
who rallied to Chick-fil-A's side in 2012.
source: hypervocal.com

There are other reasons why gay rights activists should be careful demanding boycotts and people’s heads on spikes. One would be the potential for backfire, particularly in the US. Remember in 2012 and the whole Chick-fil-A scandal? Gay rights groups got very angry over anti-same-sex marriage donations and statements made by the COO Dan Cathy and demanded a boycott. Big mistake. Many conservatives rallied to Chick-fil-A’s side going so far as to have a “Chick-Fil-A appreciation Day” in which people went to the restaurants to celebrate the company’s homophobia. The direct result of the “boycotts” was a 30% rise in Chick-Fil-A’s profits. Opps.

There is another potential problem: inconsistency. It’s very easy to demand the boycott of Mozilla Firefox when you already use Google Chrome, or refuse to watch HGTV when you’ve never even heard of the channel. It’s easy to say that you’ll never eat at Chick-fil-A when you’ve never previously visited the establishment. It’s easy in those situations because all you are is a “keyboard warrior*”, who is sacrificing zilch. When was the last time that you heard of a serious demand to boycott Saudi Arabian oil, as the country puts homosexuals to death? After all, that is a lot worse than banning gays from getting married. If you demand that Eich, Cathy or the Benham brothers lose their jobs over anti-gay comments or donations, then I can only assume that you make sure that none of your clothes come from Pakistan or Bangladesh as they throw homosexuals in prison. You should demand these boycotts, but you might find yourself short on allies as those boycotts would actually cost people money and require effort.

Mob action also harms the gay rights movement in another way, it makes us look like the homophobes we hate; people with a dogmatic world view who ferociously attack anyone with a dissenting opinion. You don’t convince people to your side of the debate by shouting them down or forcibly silencing them. You have to engage in a debate, only then can you win. Of course there will be people who cannot be swayed by logic or reason, but we don’t need them. So long as a solid majority can be persuaded to our viewpoint, we will win. You also have to remember that their companies employ thousands of other people. By boycotting a company which has a high-ranking employee who makes a homophobic statement, you harm all their employees who are not homophobic. Is this really fair? Of course not.

There is one group of people who this does not apply to: elected officials. Elected officials are supposed to represent the public, unlike CEOs or TV hosts, and hence losing their job for shocking opinions should be what happens. Remember the UKIP councillor from Henley-on-Thames, David Silvester, who blamed the recent floods in the UK on gays? UKIP was absolutely right to throw him out of the party.

I do understand why people want to fire homophobes, but I do fear that it could do more harm than good to the gay rights movement.

*I appreciate the irony of using this phrase as I am also a keyboard warrior. I love the work of many “keyboard warrior” organisations, such as Avaaz; I am a proud follower and donor. But I dislike it when people only sign petitions.

For a full list of countries who ban homosexuality, click here. Note there are two revisions, India now gives homosexuals a minor sentence and Brunei puts them to death.

Homophobia Takes Centre Stage in Uganda

With all the positive stories of gay rights, it can sometimes be easy to forget just how rampant homophobia is across the globe. We need to be reminded that homophobia is alive and well. In Russia you have the propaganda law, several US states are considering pro-discrimination laws and, of course, there is Uganda.

The African country became infamous in 2009 when a bill appeared before the Ugandan Parliament that would make homosexuality a capital offence! Thankfully, due to a massive international outcry, the bill never passed and so never became law. Unfortunately another anti-gay bill was introduced last year that would make homosexuality punishable by life in prison. Despite another international outcry, the Parliament passed it and on Monday President Museveni signed the bill into law.

The West needs to take a concerted effort against Uganda and its disgusting law. Already Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands have cut or frozen aid that they give to Uganda. Canada, the US and UK are also considering cutting their aid. So long as the aid is redirected to another poor country, I fully support the measure. It may be too late to influence Uganda, but a strong action taken by the West would deter other countries from considering similar legislation.

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the centre of the universe.”

-          Elie Wiesel

The Polarisation of Gay Rights

Everything was going just great for the gay rights movement. In 2013 part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was struck down, as well as that eight additional states legalised same-sex marriage. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed the Senate for the first time with an incredible 64 votes in favour and 32 against. ENDA would ban discrimination against gay people in states where discrimination is not explicitly banned.

2014 looked to be another great year for gay rights. Courts in Utah, Oklahoma, Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia all made pro-gay rulings. Lawsuits to expand gay rights have been filed, or are pending, in a further 20 states. Gay marriage looks likely to be brought before the Supreme Court, perhaps 2014 could be the year every state has legal same-sex marriage.

Then several conservative states decided that the anti-gay rights side needed some good news. Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah are considering passing laws that would make discrimination against gays protected by the law!

Kansas was the first to gain national notoriety for the homophobic legislation. The bill allowed for discrimination so long as the person had “deeply held religious beliefs”. The truly horrifying part was that it would allow for anyone to discriminate. Not just photographers who refused to take pictures of a gay wedding. If you were gay it would allow government employees to refuse you service, doctors could deny you treatment and policemen could refuse to investigate crimes committed against you. Disgusting. The bill passed the Kansas House 72-49 and was expected to pass the Republican controlled Senate. Then the bill suddenly died! So what caused the bill, so sure to pass, to lose support so quickly? It was the Kansas business community who we can thank for its death! Kansas businesses feared the negative effect on their livelihoods and so demanded that it never pass.

Unfortunately there is one state where a pro-discrimination bill actually managed to pass both chambers: Arizona. The bill is being sold as one that defends religious freedom, but the reality is that its sole intention is to encourage discrimination. Just like in Kansas, business leaders are opposed to it, which should influence Republican Governor Jan Brewer to veto it.

Early reports suggest that Arizona has already started to suffer from the bill (often referred to as SB 1062) passing the legislature. Businesses are reporting that companies are cancelling business trips and holidays in response to the law. George Takei, actor of Star Trek fame and now a formidable force for equality, has called for a boycott of Arizona. His husband, Brad Takei, is an Arizonan native and the couple visit Arizona annually. Not anymore. Read George’s opinion here. The Super Bowl is scheduled to be held in Arizona in 2015 and there have been calls that Arizona should lose it as a result of the law.

Bizarrely, three legislators who voted for the bill are now calling for Brewer to veto the legislation calling it "a mistake". Hopefully all these difference forces will persuade Brewer that discrimination has no place on the statute books of any state.

Even if the bills do manage to pass, it will not be long before the courts rule them as unconstitutional. After all, these courts are the same ones declaring same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional.  

Scotland Legalises Same-Sex Marriage!

The Scottish Parliament made history yesterday when it voted by a margin of 105 – 18 to legalise same-sex marriage. This was an overwhelming victory for gay rights advocates and a humiliating defeat for the homophobes. This means that Northern Ireland is now the only UK country to not have legal same-sex marriage. Unfortunately due to the opposition of Unionists, this will not be changed through the legislative process anytime soon.

So where will gay rights activists succeed next? At the moment there are bills pending or proposed in 23 countries that would establish some sort of gay unions. There are also seven sub-national jurisdictions which are in a similar position. In the US 20 states are having their bans on same-sex marriage challenged in the courts. In Oregon voters will decide whether or not to legalise same-sex marriage and Ohio activists are collecting signatures to ensure that Ohio does the same!

Hopefully by the end of 2014, gay rights will have advanced across the globe!

What the World Holds in 2014 - A Prediction

So that’s my review of 2013 over, obviously there were numerous stories that I missed. The horsemeat scandal that gripped Europe, elections in Japan and Germany, and the birth of Prince George. The biggest news story that I missed was documenting the progress within Iran. I was planning on writing more reviews, but revision for exams has cute into the amount of time I can afford to spend blogging. Perhaps when I finish exams I’ll do a few more reviews of 2013.

The point of this post is to predict what will happen to the world in 2014. The number in red is the amount of predictions I’ve made in the paragraph.

Pro-gay rights athletes will be arrested in Sochi during the Winter Olympics. Of the 100s of athletes attending, it seems unlikely that nobody will protest. Expect tensions to rise between the West and Russia. [1]

The European elections will be a mixed bag as the likes of France jump to the rights whilst Britain and several other countries jump to the left. I predict that Nick Griffin will lose his seat and Labour will have the largest MEP delegation from Britain. In France Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP will have the most MEPs, followed by Marine Le Pen’s National Front. This will leave President François Hollande’s Socialist Party in third place.  [5]

Scotland will vote to remain in the union, although the vote will be closer than most unionists would like [1]

Scotland will also legalise same-sex marriage, as will Luxembourg and the Faroe Islands. Michigan and Virginia, by court ruling, will legalise same-sex marriage through the courts, whilst Ohio and Oregon will legalise it through ballot initiatives. The Supreme Court will reject Utah’s appeal, keeping same-sex marriage legal in that state. [8]

The November elections in the US will be mixed. Republicans will make a net gain in the Senate but will fall short of enough to take control. Little will change in the House of Representatives. Democrats will make a net gain in the governorship. [4] I’ll do a more in depth post about this later this month or in early February.

The bloodshed in Syria will continue, and by the end of 2014 nothing much will have changed unfortunately. There will be no Western military intervention in Syrian affairs. [2]

Obamacare will become more popular as its positive effects are felt. By the end of the year it will have a positive approval rating [1]

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts will continue to gain popularity within the Democratic Party. She will eat away at Hilary Clinton’s lead in 2016 polls. New York City Mayor, Bill deBlasio, will gain national attention, also resulting in him being touted for a 2016 Presidential run. [2]

If I were to guess one person who is likely to die in 2014, I would chose President George H.W. Bush. We already know that he is in poor health and turns 90 this June. People who could also die this year include the Duke of Edinburgh, after all he turns 93 this June and had a number of health scares in 2013. Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej has had numerous health scares over the past decade and hence is also on the list of likely deaths. He turns 87 in June (I swear I have nothing against people born in June). Aging stars Bruce Forsyth (turns 86 later this month) and Betty White (turns 92 next month) could also die in 2014 without much surprise.

Excluding deaths, I have made a total of 23 predictions for 2014. I guess we will have to wait until 2015 to see how accurate they were!

Gay Rights - The Bad News

Unfortunately the news surrounding gay rights has not been entirely rosy. The West did appear to move forward together, the same cannot be said of other countries. The biggest anti-gay news came out of Russia and India which seriously disappointed gay rights activists. Africa and the Middle East continued their terrible reputation with gay rights.

Gay Rights – Russia

When the Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991 the new Russia seemed eager to show its progressive side on social issues. In 1993 gay sex was legalised, four years later transgender people could legally change their gender and in 1999 homosexuality was declassified as a mental illness. Then came Vladimir Putin, he rose to Prime Minister in 1999 and after only a few months became President following Boris Yeltsin’s resignation. Originally he did nothing to gay rights, but as the years progressed he began to ally himself with the homophobic Russian Orthodox Church. To help cement the support of the religious right, he (and his United Russia party) began hacking away at gay rights. Although homosexuality is still legal in Russia, a law was passed last year that made ‘homosexual propaganda’ illegal.

The law itself is truly terrible and stops any sort of gay pride event or meeting in which homosexuality is discussed positively. In Russia if you break the law as an ordinary citizen you are fined 5,000 Russian roubles (£93/$153/€110). For public officials the fine is 50,000 roubles (£932/$1,525/€1,102), the maximum fine for organisations is 1 million roubles (£18,631/$30,500/€22,037) and they must halt activity for up to 90 days. If you try and ‘promote homosexuality’ over the internet you can get fined 100,000 roubles (£1,863/$3,050/€2,204)! If you are a foreigner you can expect to get detained for 15 days before being deported, after paying your 100,000 rouble fine of course.

The disgraceful treatment of gays has resulted in people calling for a boycott of the Winter Olympics, which are to be held in Sochi, Russia later this year. Particularly vocal have been George Takei, an American actor, and Stephen Fry, a veteran British broadcaster. Both are openly gay and have drawn on their substantial fan base to call for a boycott of the games. In Fry’s letter to Prime Minister David Cameron he compared Putin’s treatment of gays to Hitler’s treatment of Jews in 1936, when the Olympic Games were held in Berlin. It is worth noting that Fry is of Jewish descent and had relatives die in the Holocaust.

 

Russian gay rights supporters being beaten by police
source: the Guardian

Gay Rights Elsewhere

India was the only other country to produce major anti-gay news. In 2009 the Delhi High Court ruled that Section 377 was unconstitutional and that all prohibitions on consenting sexual activities between adults that did not involve a commercial transaction were also unconstitutional. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was passed in 1860 by the ruling British government. Unfortunately the Supreme Court of India decided in December that the colonial era law was actually constitutional. This meant that gay sex was once again illegal in India.

It is a bit ironic when you think about it: When this law was passed in 1860, Britain was highly homophobic whereas India was not. Fast forward 160 years and you find a homophobic India and Britain leading the pro-gay rights charge!

Uganda has been at the centre of attention for several years now in relation to gay rights. Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, being found guilty of it could result in up to seven years of imprisonment. Yet for some that is not enough! In 2009 MP David Bahati introduced a bill that would call for the death penalty for people who had gay sex on multiple occasions. It was dubbed the ‘kill the gays bill’ and got immediate international attention, which resulted in it failing. Then last year the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, introduced a new bill that was not quite as harsh as the original bill, but still demanded the death penalty for ‘aggravated’ homosexuality. That bill passed Parliament last month and new awaits President Yoweri Museveni’s signature.

More minor bad news for gay rights came out of Croatia, Zimbabwe and Australia. In Zimbabwe a referendum was held at the same time as other elections that banned same-sex marriage constitutionally. Considering Zimbabwe was never going to legalise same-sex marriage, this has little affect. Similarly Croatia had a referendum in which marriage was defined as being between one man and one woman. The result was 66% against marriage equality. It wasn’t entirely bad news though as the government immediately announced that it would try and pass a civil union bill this year. In Australia the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) became the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise same-sex marriage! Hurray! Not so fast, unfortunately the federal government challenged the constitutionality of the same-sex marriage law, the court unfortunately ruled in the government’s favour. This means that gay marriage will not be becoming legal any time soon in Australia.  

The Rainbow Wave

It has been an extraordinary year for gay rights, particularly when it comes to gay marriage. Unfortunately there have been set backs, most notably in Russia, which I will come to later. Earlier last year I made a prediction that the total population of countries and jurisdictions that have passed same-sex marriage before 2013 would be less than the population of those who passed it in 2013 and 2014. My prediction was true, just a bit conservative. Before 2013 363,310 people lived in places that had legal same-sex marriage, whereas last year places with an additional 37,806,000 people being added in 2013 alone!

Marriage Rights

The first gay couple to get married in France (Montpellier)
source: standard.co.uk

The expanding of marriage rights took place across four continents and seven different countries. Brazil, France, New Zealand and Uruguay legalised it nationwide, taking the total to 15 countries. The UK government also legalised same-sex marriage but it only applies to England and Wales as both Scotland and Northern Ireland have the power to define marriage devolved to them. Scotland is making good progress when it comes to same-sex marriage, a bill that would legalise it has passed the first reading in the Scottish Parliament and awaits another vote. In Northern Ireland there are no plans to extend marriage rights at the moment.

Same-sex marriage seemed unable to stay out of American news this entire year, every few weeks there was something new to celebrate, or be sad about. In total nine states started to issue same-sex marriage licences. Five legalised it through their legislatures (Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota and Rhode Island) whilst the other four legalised it as a result of court rulings (California, New Jersey, New Mexico and Utah). There are many other court cases pending across the country. In addition, six tribal jurisdictions began allowing same-sex marriage. They were the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Santa Ysabel Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, and the Leek Lake Band of Ojibwe. In 2013 Colorado started offering civil unions to same-sex couples and Oregon began recognising same-sex marriages performed out of state.  

USA Supreme Court Rulings on Same-Sex Marriage

The biggest boost for gay rights campaigners in the US came in June last year when the Supreme Court sided with them in two landmark cases. The court finally put to rest the fight over same-sex marriage in California that has been going on for a decade. Under Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the Democratic controlled legislature passed same-sex marriage, which he vetoed. A challenge was brought to the constitutionality of California’s same-sex marriage ban which resulted in the Supreme Court of California ruling that the ban was unconstitutional. This was rapidly overturned by Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman and received the backing of 52% of the public vote in the 2008 referendum. A suit was then filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8. Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Proposition 8 did run contrary to the US constitution and hence would have to go. As the state of California refused to defend the law, it was the original organisers of Proposition 8 which then appealed the ruling in court.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to take up an appeal, when the court ruled in February 2012, it ruled in favour of the gay rights side. So the Proposition 8 proponents had no choice but to go to the US Supreme Court or abandon altogether, naturally they appealed.

The ruling later came on the 26^th of June and the results were rather surprising. The court did not rule based on whether or not Proposition 8 was constitutional, but rather whether its opponents had a right to defend it in federal court. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided that Proposition 8 opponents were not able to appeal and so the original district court ruling stayed. What is more surprising is how each justice ruled. It is widely recognised that the court is split along political lines. There are four liberal justices; Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Opposing them are conservative justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Finally there is the swing justice who is viewed as a moderate, Anthony Kennedy. You would be forgiven for thinking that it was the four liberal justices plus Kennedy that enabled same-sex marriage to return to California, but you would be wrong. Instead it was Roberts, Ginsburg, Kagan, Breyer and Scalia that ruled against the Proposition 8 proponents. Kennedy, Sotomayor, Alito and Thomas dissented. Scalia is the most shocking vote as not only is he one of the most conservative justices on the court, he is one of the most conservative men in the country.

The other major case heard by the Supreme Court on gay rights in 2013 concerned the federal Defense of Marriage Act (aka DOMA). The Act was passed in 1996 by a strong bipartisan majority and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The law basically barred federal recognition for same-sex couples. Section 3 stated that the federal government could not provide benefits to same-sex couples, even in states that had legal same-sex marriage. In 1996 this was of little consequence as no state allowed same-sex marriage, and it wouldn’t matter for another eight years until Massachusetts became the first US state to legalise same-sex marriage in 2004. In 2010 several plaintiffs filed in New York calling Section 3 unconstitutional. The case was called United States v. Windsor and dealt primarily with the case of Edith Windsor who had been taxed on the inheritance she received from her spouse, Thea Spyer. If the federal government had recognised her marriage then she would have been exempt from the tax. By the time the Supreme Court agreed to take the case, eight other states and DC had already legalised same-sex marriage and several more were planning on legalising it in the coming months. The Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision that Section 3 was indeed unconstitutional as it violated states’ rights and individual rights. The way the justices ruled was entirely as expected; the four conservative justices opposed gay rights and the four liberal justices (joined by Kennedy) backed gay rights.

Other positive moves on gay rights

One fundamental part of the family life is children, so naturally being allowed to adopt is important to gay people who want a family. There are two types of adoption here; joint adoption and step-child adoption. Joint adoption is when both partners adopt a child that is not the biological child of either of them. Step-child adoption is when one partner is the biological parent of one and the other partner adopts the child as their own. In 2013 France and New Zealand both began allowing joint adoption as a result of legalising same-sex marriage. In Northern Ireland and Gibraltar courts ruled that their respective jurisdictions had to allow joint adoption. Tasmania also legalised joint adoption. In 2013 step-child adoption was legalised in Austria and Germany.

Despite plenty of good news for gay rights in the West, less good news came from other areas of the world. I will be addressing that in the next post. 

Same-sex Marriage Makes Huge Progress

There has been a flurry of activity lately when it comes to same-sex marriage. Last month New Jersey became the 14^th state to legalise same-sex marriage following a court ruling. On the 23^rd of October the New Mexico Supreme Court heard arguments around whether or not same-sex marriage was legal in the state. The court has said that it will rule I the coming months. Great news came out of Illinois and Hawaii as both states are on track to legalise same-sex marriage. Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois has said that he’ll sign a same-sex marriage bill into law on the 20^th of November. Governor Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii said he will sign the corresponding Hawaiian bill after the state senate votes on it a second time. In Oregon the gay rights movement only needs 6,286 more signatures to put same-sex marriage on the ballot in November in 2014. Ohio also has a petition to legalise same-sex marriage but unfortunately they have no revealed how many signatures they have gotten. In Michigan a district court judge has agreed to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban in February 2014. Suits have also been filed in Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas and Pennsylvania. Following their success at defeating the same-sex marriage ban in California, the American Foundation for Equal Rights has stated that its next target will be Virginia.

In Australia, the Australian Capital Territory (aka Canberra) became the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise same-sex marriage. Unfortunately the conservative government has said it will try and block the legislation. More good news came out of Ireland where the government announced that a referendum would be held in 2015 on the issue of same-sex marriage. It is almost certain to pass, when this happens Ireland will become the first country to legalise same-sex marriage through a referendum. Ireland is one of only two European Atlantic Coast countries to not have legal same-sex marriage (the other being Germany), although several sub-national jurisdictions have also not legalised it.

In the Scottish Parliament the bill to legalise same-sex marriage passed through the Equal Opportunities Committee very easily and now awaits a vote by the main parliament. It will have to go through three more votes before it actually becomes law.

The Fallout of DOMA

When the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional it had wide ranging consequences for states with and without equal marriage. In the 13 states and DC where same-sex marriage is legal, same-sex couples who were legally married became eligible for over 1100 benefits from the federal government! Obviously this had wide ranging consequences for those states with same-sex marriage but is also had a large affect on the six states with civil unions, and even those with zero recognition.

Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada and Oregon all have legalised civil unions. This effectively gave same-sex couples in these states equal access to state benefits as opposite-sex couples, usually only withholding the word marriage. The Supreme Court ruling in  June matters a lot in those states as now there is a difference between civil unions and full marriage. The federal government doesn't recognise civil unions and so withholds 1100 benefits from same-sex couples in the above six states that it doesn't withhold from those in states with full marriage.

Previously supporters of gay rights in civil union states didn't feel an urgent need to legalise full marriage as all state benefits could be provided by civil unions. Now gay rights activists can turn round to supporters and tell them that they need to be more proactive when it comes to marriage as now there is a very real difference between marriage and civil unions.

We can already tell this has indeed changed things. In Hawaii, Governor Neil Abercrombie has announced that he will recall the state legislature for a special session on the 28th of October to vote on a same-sex marriage bill. Most people predict that it will pass as the governor would be unlikely to recall the legislature if he didn't have enough votes. As well as that the Hawaiian legislature is the most Democratic in the country. The house is 86% Democratic (44 Democrats, seven Republicans) and in the Senate it is an incredible 96% Democratic with 24 Democrats and only one Republican.

Illinois is the only other state where the legislature may be spurred into action. A same-sex marriage bill passed the Democratic state Senate 34-21 but was never called to vote in the House. With the veto session looming it could actually pass the legislature and get it signed into law by Governor Quinn.

Hawaii and Illinois are the only states who are likely to pass same-sex marriage in the next few months. Of the 38 states who do not have legal same-sex marriage, 30 have a constitutional ban on it, which means that the legislature in those states cannot legalise it. Of the remaining states that are liberal, Pennsylvania is completely controlled by Republicans whilst New Mexico and New Jersey have Republican governors that are opposed to same-sex marriage. The other three states without a constitutional ban are Indiana, West Virginia and Wyoming which are all very conservative.

Yet state legislatures are not the only way to legalise same-sex marriage. The judiciary and referendums are also means. At the moment organisations in Ohio and Oregon are collecting signatures to try and put marriage equality on the ballot. In Oregon, Oregon United for Marriage began collecting signatures on the 26th of July, exactly one month after the Supreme Court ruling on DOMA. At the time of writing it has gotten 80,764 signatures of the 116,284 required to put it on the ballot. Unfortunately I can't find anything on the progress the Ohio petition has made.

The DOMA decision has also driven gay rights activists to the courts. Already suits have been filed across the US from New Mexico to Michigan, already judges have cited the DOMA decision as a reason why they gave pro-gay decisions. 

Same-Sex Marriage Legislation Worldwide

Same-sex marriage is legal in only a handful of countries, but the number is rapidly expanding. In the parliaments of five nations full same-sex marriage rights are being debating and in a further 12 countries some form of same-sex civil unions are being debated. As well as countries, same-sex marriage or civil unions are being debated in sub-national jurisdictions of the USA, Mexico and Australia as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.

Countries debating full same-sex marriage rights:

Finland: As the only Nordic country that has not legalised same-sex marriage, it is a surprise that legislation has taken as long as it has. The two most recent polls in Finland put support at 57% and 58% by polling firms YouGov and Taloustutkimus respectively. A same-sex marriage bill was voted down 9-8 in the Legal Affairs Committee but a citizens' initiative will force all of parliament to debate and vote on the bill. The results are expected later this year. In 2001 Finland passed a registered partnerships bill 99-84 under the left-wing Social Democrats and expanded in 2009 108-29 under the Centre Party. The current government is the centre right National Coalition and the next elections are in 2015.

Ireland: According to most polls of the Irish public, support for same-sex marriage is consistently above 70%. This bodes well for a referendum on the issue in 2014. This means that Ireland will almost certainly have marriage equality.

Italy: As it is one of the more socially conservative countries in Western Europe, it doesn't even have civil unions. Polls in Italy consistently show that a majority of Italians do not support full marriage rights. The Catholic Church has also been very influential in preventing the legalisation of gay unions. Bills have been introduced attempting to legalise either same-sex marriage or civil unions. The marriage bill is almost certain to fail as only three parties, representing only 22.2% of the 2013 electoral vote support it. Civil unions ave more hope as the largest party also supports them, bringing the percentage to 55.3.

Luxembourg: The only thing surprising about Luxembourg is that it hasn't already passed same-sex marriage. In 2004 it passed partnerships and expanded them in 2010. A recent poll by Polimonitor put support for same-sex marriage at 83%! It looked likely that same-sex marriage would finally pass this year but early elections to be held in October have delayed its inevitable passage.

Nepal: The country is in the midst if trying to draft a new constitution and the government wanted to expand to same-sex couples. Unfortunately negotiations broke down and the parliament was dissolved until new elections. If same-sex marriage were to be passed. Nepal would become the first Asian nation to legalise same-sex marriage.

Sub-national jurisdictions debating full same-sex marriage rights.

Mexico

- Coahuila: Back in 20078 the state legalised a "civil pact of solidarity" aka civil unions 20-13. It is not currently debating whether to join Mexico City and Quintana Roo and become the third Mexican state to legalise same-sex marriage.
- Oaxaca is also vying to be the third state to legalise full same-sex marriage rights. Unlike Coahuila it has no previous legislative history on the issue.
- Yucatán is the final Mexican state trying to legalise same-sex marriage, but unlike the other two states, Yucatán already has a same-sex marriage ban.The ban's legality is currently making its way through the courts.

Australia

- Canberra: By far Canberra has been the most progressive Australian state/territory in regards to gay rights. In 1994 it passed the first unregistered cohabitation act in Australia and expanded it in 2004. Canberra tried to go further in 2006 by passing civil unions but the federal government overturned it, in 2007 it tried to pass a civil partnerships bill but again the federal government said no. Finally the federal government stopped meddling and in 2008 it legalised civil partnerships and then expanded them in 2009. In 2012 it legalised civil unions and is hoping for full marriage rights in 2013.
- New South Wales: The state passed an unregistered cohabitation act in 1999, which it expanded in 2002 and 2008. In 2010 it passed a relationship register bill overwhelmingly, 32-5 in the upper house and 62-9 in the lower house. A bill to legalise same-sex marriage has been proposed in the upper house this year, I don't know whether or not it will pass.
- South Australia: In 2004 an attempt to legalise civil unions failed in the lower house but in 2006 domestic partnership bill passed. In July of this year a marriage bill was introduced but went nowhere. I am not confident that it will pass.
- Victoria: The state passed unregistered cohabitation way back in 2001 and a relationship register was created in 2008 with strong majorities in both houses (29-10 in the upper house and 54-24 in the lower house).
- Western Australia: The largest Australian state passed an unregistered cohabitation bill in 2002 but hasn't made any more since. Currently a bill to legalise same-sex marriage is lingering in the upper house.

Countries debating legalising civil unions:

Bolivia: The only legislative history regarding gay unions in Bolivia is a 2009 referendum which banned same-sex marriage. The referendum passed with 61.43% of the vote. This doesn't necessarily bode badly for the bill's chance as a lot more strides have been taken on LGBT rights in the last four years. It is also important to note that civil unions consistently get higher levels of support than same-sex marriage. I couldn't find any polling on Bolivia and very few articles online.

Chile: Unfortunately in Chile there are attempts to ban same-sex marriage by adding an amendment to the constitution. At the same time there are attempts to create civil unions, legislation passed out of committee in April in a 4-1 vote.

Croatia: Unregistered cohabitation passed back in 2003, this year is a life partnership agreement has been proposed. Croatia's recent accession to the EU has helped to liberalise Croatia's attitude to same-sex marriage.

Cuba: The country's constitution currently bans same-sex marriage but no civil unions. There have been previous attempts to legalise civil unions in 2007 and 2009 that failed. It Cuba were to legalise civil unions this year it would become the first Caribbean state to recognise any form of same-sex civil unions.

Cyprus: A civil partnership bill has been proposed in Cyprus but I am sceptical about its ability to pass. The Greek Orthodox Church is extremely powerful in Cyprus and has consistently opposed the expansion of gay rights. The likelihood of it passing is slim to none.

Estonia: A bill has been introduced in Estonia that would create a form of same-sex union. Of the four main parties in the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) only the Social Democratic Party supports it. Of the Coalition Government the Reform Party is neutral whilst the 'Pro Patria and Res Publica Union' opposes it. The final party in the parliament, the Centre Party is also neutral on it. There is also a significant ethnic divide between Estonians and Russians, the former favour legalising same-sex marriage whilst the latter is staunchly opposed.

Israel: Certainly the most gay friendly place in the Middle East (it wouldn't be difficult) but Israel does not recognise any sort of same-sex union. according to a 2009 poll, 61% of Israelis supported full marriage rights whilst 31% were opposed. Unfortunately a same-sex marriage bill failed 11-39 in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament). This year a civil union bill was introduced and has yet to be voted upon.

Malta: Although Malta has never voted on gay union legislation, all the major parties have said that they support some form of recognition for gay couples. The new Labour government is currently trying to legalise same-sex union.

Poland: As it is one of the nine European countries that has a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, it is unlikely to legalise same-sex marriage. To make matters worse only around 25% of Poles support it. Nonetheless there are attempts to create a registered partnership for gay couples. Unfortunately it failed earlier this year, but has been re-introduced for another go.

Thailand: Historically the country has been very accepting of LGBT peoples but does not recognise same-sex unions. Recently there have been attempts to recognise gay couples, currently a bill to legalise civil partnerships is making its way through the Thai Parliament.

Vietnam: Since only 37% of the public support same-sex marriage it is unlikely that it will grant full marriage rights. Nonetheless the government is trying to give some form of rights to cohabitating same-sex couples.

Sub-national jurisdictions debating civil unions:

Campeche (Mexico): Only two states have legal civil unions. Campeche is vying to be the third.
Gibraltar: As one of the few Western European jurisdictions to have no recognition of same-sex couples, it is well behind the time. This year the government has introduced legislation to create civil unions.

New Mexico's Complex Gay Marriage Laws

New Mexico is the only US state with no laws regarding same-sex marriage, it does not ban them, nor does it make them legal. The lack of clarity surrounding same-sex marriage means that it's up to individual county clerks to decide whether to grant marriage licences to same-sex couples. Although some country courts have demanded that their clerks issue the licenses. At the time of writing six counties in New Mexico issue same-sex marriage licenses, representing just over half of New Mexico's population. So far Bernalillo, Santa Fe and Taos issue them under court order whilst Doña Ana, San Miguel and Valencia are issuing them at the discretion of their county clerks. 

Naturally everyone in New Mexico wants some clarity on the law, and soon. This is unlikely to come from the legislative branch as although Democrats control both houses of the state legislature, the governor, Susana Martinez is a Republican and opposed to same-sex marriage. This means that all eyes are on the state Supreme Court to decide this issue. Yesterday New Mexico's 33 county clerks voted unanimously to seek the guidance of the state Supreme Court. A ruling could be several weeks away. The decision whether to make New Mexico the 14th state to legalise same-sex marriage now rests with the five justices on New Mexico's Supreme Court. 

Legality of Homosexual Acts Worldwide

In li­­ght of Russia moving backwards on gay rights, I have decided to look into how the world treats gays. In 123 countries homosexuality is legal, this accounts for 5,470,620,000 of the roughly 7.1 billion humans. In 74 countries, accounting for 1,261,145,000 people, homosexuality is illegal. The reason the numbers don’t add up is that whilst homosexual acts are still technically legal, Putin’s anti-gay law makes it effectively illegal. Here is a breakdown of the countries you really should not visit if you are gay:

Homosexuality punishable by death (Eight countries, 371 million people)

Afghanistan	Mauritania*1	Sudan
Iran	Nigeria*2	Yemen
Maldives*2	Saudi Arabia

Homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment (Six countries, 140 million people)

Barbados*4	Guyana*3	Tanzania
Burma/Myanmar	Sierra Leone*3	Uganda*2

Homosexuality punishable with a lesser punishment (60 countries, 890 million people)

Algeria	Kenya	Samoa
Angola	Kiribati*3	Senegal
Antigua and Barbuda	Kuwait*3	Seychelles*3
Bangladesh	Lesotho*3	Singapore*3*4
Belize*3	Liberia	Solomon Islands
Bhutan*4	Libya	Somalia
Botswana*4	Malawi	South Sudan
Brunei	Malaysia	Sri Lanka
Burundi	Mauritius*3	Swaziland*3
Cameroon	Morocco	Syria
Comoros	Namibia*4	Togo
Dominica	Nauru*3	Tonga*3
Eritrea	Oman*4	Trinidad and Tobago*4
Ethiopia	Pakistan	Tunisia
Gambia	Palau*3	Turkmenistan*3
Gaza*3	Papua New Guinea	Tuvalu*3
Ghana	Qatar	UAE
Grenada*3	Saint Kitts and Nevis*3	Uzbekistan*3
Guinea	Saint Lucia	Zambia
Jamaica*3	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Zimbabwe*3

*1 no executions since 1987

*2 Varies

*3 Female legal

*4 Unenforced

In these countries homosexuality is legal, but there may be other reasons why you don’t want to visit if you are gay:

Albania	Estonia	Mozambique
Andorra	Fiji	Nepal
Argentina	Finland	Netherlands
Armenia	France	New Zealand
Australia	Gabon	Nicaragua
Austria	Georgia	Niger
Azerbaijan	Germany	Norway
Bahamas	Greece	Palestine
Bahrain	Guatemala	Panama
Belarus	Guinea-Bissau	Paraguay
Belgium	Haiti	Peru
Benin	Honduras	Philippines
Bolivia	Hungary	Poland
Bosnia Herzegovina	India	Portugal
Brazil	Indonesia	Romania
Bulgaria	Iraq	Rwanda
Burkina Faso	Ireland	San Marino
Cambodia	Israel	São Tomé and Príncipe
Canada	Italy	Serbia
Cape Verde Islands	Japan	Slovakia
Central African Republic	Kazakhstan	Slovenia
Chad	Kosovo	South Africa
Chile	Kyrgyzstan	South Korea
China	Laos	Spain
Colombia	Latvia	Suriname
Congo (Democratic Republic of)	Lebanon	Sweden
Congo (Republic of)	Liechtenstein	Switzerland
Costa Rica	Lithuania	Taiwan
Côte d’Ivoire	Luxembourg	Tajikistan
Croatia	Macedonia	Thailand
Cuba	Madagascar	Timor-Leste
Cyprus	Mali	Turkey
Czech Republic	Malta	UK
Denmark	Marshall Islands	Ukraine
Djibouti	Mexico	Uruguay
Dominican Republic	Micronesia	USA
Ecuador	Moldova	Vanuatu
Egypt	Monaco	Vatican
El Salvador	Mongolia	Venezuela
Equatorial Guinea	Montenegro	Vietnam

As you can clearly see, the world has a long way to go on the issue of gay rights. Yet the world 50 years ago looked very different, with only a handful of countries allowing homosexuality. At the start of the last decade homosexuality was illegal in the US state of Minnesota, today there is legal same-sex marriage. This issue is rapidly advancing, and although there are a few Russias, most countries are moving in the right direction.

Green - countries where homosexual acts legal
Red - countries where homosexual acts are illegal (and Russia)
Grey - North Korea, where the law is unclear
Source: Me