When the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the issue of same-sex marriage later this year, President Barack Obama hopes the nation’s highest court will make the “right decision.” During an interview on Thursday with one of three YouTube creators at the White House, Obama said he is hopeful the Supreme Court will recognize that there is “no good reason” to ban same-sex marriage.
“My hope is that they go ahead and recognize what I think the majority of people in America now recognize, which is two people who love each other and are treating each other with respect, and aren’t bothering anybody else, why would the law treat them differently?” Obama told YouTube creator GloZell Green. “There’s no good reason for it, and so as a consequence I’m hopeful the Supreme Court comes to the right decision.”
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Obama’s remarks come after he declared marriage equality a “civil right” during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a consolidated case challenging same-sex marriage bans in four states — Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee — and address whether the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from banning same-sex marriage or recognition of same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere. Following that announcement, outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder reaffirmed that the Justice Department would file a brief urging the Supreme Court “to make marriage equality a reality for all Americans.” Oral arguments are expected to be heard in April with a decision handed down by the court in June.
Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage in May 2012 after his administration ceased defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act in February 2011. His administration later urged the Supreme Court to strike down DOMA and California’s Proposition 8.
“I will tell you peoples’ hearts have opened up on this issue,” the president said during Thursday’s interview. “I think people know that treating folks unfairly, even if you disagree with their lifestyle choice, the fact of the matter is they’re not bothering you. Let them live their lives and under the law they should be treated equally.
“And as far as me personally, just to see all the loving gay and lesbian couples that I know who are great parents and great partners, the idea that we would not treat them like the brothers and sisters they are, that doesn’t make any sense to me.”
The United Methodist Church has repealed its 40-year-old ban on LGBTQ clergy after delegates voted to scuttle the rule prohibiting "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from being ordained or appointed as ministers.
Delegates at the church's General Conference, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, voted 692-51, without debate, to repeal the restriction.
The overwhelming vote margin contrasts significantly with past General Conferences -- including the most recent one, five years ago -- which had left the ban intact, along with penalties for churches that perform or recognize same-sex marriages.
A federal judge refused to overturn judgments totaling $360,104 against former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis stemming from her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning, of the Eastern District of Kentucky, rejected a request from Davis's lawyers to set aside a jury verdict awarding $100,000 to David Ermold and David Moore, one of several couples -- both gay and straight -- who were denied licenses by Davis, the former clerk of Rowan County.
Lawyers from the right-wing, anti-LGBTQ legal firm Liberty Counsel, which is representing Davis, argued that Ermold and Moore had not provided sufficient evidence, including testimony from medical or mental health experts, of how Davis's refusal to issue them a marriage license had caused them "emotional distress."
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.
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