The Obama administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of marriage equality nationwide in a brief filed with the court Friday.
“The marriage bans challenged in these cases impermissibly exclude lesbian and gay couples from the rights, responsibilities, and status of civil marriage,” the “friend of the court” brief filed by the Justice Department states. “These facially discriminatory laws impose concrete harms on same-sex couples and send the inescapable message that same-sex couples and their children are second-class families, unworthy of the recognition and benefits that opposite-sex couples take for granted. The bans cannot be reconciled with the fundamental constitutional guarantee of ‘equal protection of the laws.’”
The brief is one of dozens filed with the high court calling for a ruling in favor of marriage equality later this year. Also on Friday, more than 300 conservatives and 211 Democratic members of Congress urged the court to strike down state bans on same-sex marriage in separate briefs filed with the court.
According to the brief, state bans on same-sex marriage “impose a more direct stigma that is all the more painful because its source is the home State and not the federal government; they exclude lesbian and gay couples from the institution of civil marriage; and they deprive the children of those couples of equal recognition of their family structure. There is no adequate justification for such a discriminatory and injurious exercise of state power.”
In January, the nation’s highest court agreed to consolidate four cases challenging same-sex marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee after the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld marriage bans in those four states. On Thursday, the Supreme Court announced oral arguments on the issue of marriage equality would be heard April 28, with a ruling expected by the end of June.
Thailand is one step closer to legalizing marriage equality after lawmakers in the country's lower house of parliament voted to approve a bill permitting same-sex couples to wed.
The bill overwhelmingly passed by a vote of 400-10 in its final reading on March 27.
It now heads to the country's Senate, where it must be approved, before finally having Thailand's king sign off on the policy change. The law could be enacted as soon as 120 days after the king's assent, reports Al Jazeera.
If the bill surmounts those obstacles, Thailand would become the third Asian country to legalize same-sex nuptials, following Taiwan and Nepal.
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Nicole Berner to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by a 50-47 vote, with all Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.V.) voting against her nomination.
Berner’s confirmation makes her the first out lesbian confirmed to the 4th Circuit -- which covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina -- and only the sixth LGBTQ judge confirmed to any appeals court in the country.
It also makes her the eleventh LGBTQ federal judge nominated by President Joe Biden, who ties a record with President Obama for appointing the most LGBTQ federal judges in history.
Leo Varadkar, Ireland's youngest, first openly gay, and first multiracial prime minister, announced on March 20 that he is stepping down from office.
Varadkar resigned as leader of the Fine Gael political party and will resign as prime minister -- or taoiseach -- once a successor is named.
Standing on the steps of the Government Buildings in Dublin, the 45-year-old said he was stepping down for "personal and political" reasons, "but mainly political," reported The Guardian.
"I believe this government can be re-elected," Varadkar said. "I believe a new taoiseach will be better placed than me to achieve that -- to renew and strengthen the top team, to refocus our message and policies, and to drive implementation. After seven years in office, I am no longer the best person for that job."
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