Marriage Equality in the Equality State
October 21, 2014 8:27 PM   Subscribe

At 10AM Mountain Time on Tuesday, October 21, Wyoming began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The U.S. Supreme Court had announced its decision to "let stand appeals court rulings allowing same-sex marriage in five states," including Wyoming, on October 6—16 years since gay college student Matthew Shepard was abducted, tortured, and left to die outside Laramie, WY, in a homophobic attack that galvanized LGBT activism across the country. The Matthew Shepard Foundation posted today: "Congratulations, Wyoming. Thirty-two down, 18 to go." [Previously: The 10-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death.]
posted by nicebookrack (19 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Puerto Rico has dismissed a same-sex marriage suit, on the grounds that the 1971 Supreme Court ruling in Baker v. Nelson, where the Court held in a one-paragraph dismissal that the definition of marriage is not a question for federal courts, is definitive. While Baker has never been explicitly overruled, other courts have generally held that later rulings render it a dead letter.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:44 PM on October 21, 2014


I usually do not advocate this kind of thing, but I really, really wish a whole crowd of people would gather outside the Westboro Baptist Church house now holding pictures of Matthew Shepherd and Wyoming State flags and just shouting "SUCK IT, PHELPS!" or something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:50 PM on October 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


wait, I totally didn't even notice that over 60% of states allow gay marriage now

that is completely awesome so far
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:30 PM on October 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


FiveThirtyEight put up a map on October 6, when it became legal for a majority of Americans, and an update on October 17 for 31 states. And today it's 32.
posted by kadonoishi at 10:59 PM on October 21, 2014


The competition for being the last state to legalize gay marriage is getting tighter.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:22 PM on October 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


EmpressCallipygos, recall that across the street there is now a rainbow house, and one of the supporters is a Phelps grandchild.

They know damned well they're losing.
posted by dhartung at 11:29 PM on October 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


You know, all the shitty news you hear all the time, it's just wonderful to see this going so right.
posted by Bugbread at 11:55 PM on October 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Hurray! Love marches on!
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:08 AM on October 22, 2014


I like that Wyoming shares a marriage equality anniversary with New Jersey. There's something weird and fantastic about that.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:08 AM on October 22, 2014


The competition for being the last state to legalize gay marriage is getting tighter.

But it is still a wide open field in the competition to be The Biggest Asshole When It Comes to Implementing the Law.
posted by marxchivist at 3:20 AM on October 22, 2014


I know, dhartung, but the Wyoming thing is special (the Matthew Shepherd funeral was one of their earliest pickets).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:59 AM on October 22, 2014


Actually, there were a few of phelps's people protesting outside my job in front of Pret A Manger a few months ago (pix on my flickr). At first I thought they were protesting overpriced soup but no such luck.
posted by jonmc at 5:29 AM on October 22, 2014


But it is still a wide open field in the competition to be The Biggest Asshole When It Comes to Implementing the Law.

I'm so tired of folks who feel their religion exempts them from following the law without consequence. While I respect that the nature of your job may have changed since you got in the field, so has everyone else's. It may be more subtle (offshoring, for instance), but just because you signed up for a job when you got out of college doesn't mean it will be the same.

Yes, there are narrow exceptions made for, say, conscientious objectors in war. But it's not an opt-out. You still have to serve. Simply put, acting on your beliefs may require you to *gasp* have some skin in the game, and be more than a little inconvenienced. If you boycott a bus system, you have to find another way to get to work.

So, if you have to dispense Plan B, or issue a marriage license to a same sex couple, or whatever, do your job or find a new one. I know it may be rough--it's a hard job market out there, especially if you have to start over in a new field that meets your narrow-minded beliefs, but it's not society's job to keep you from being offended.
posted by MrGuilt at 5:50 AM on October 22, 2014 [11 favorites]


I thought this was an interesting quote in the Wyofile article from one of the gay Wyomingites who sued for marriage equality:
"We get a bad rap,” Guzzo said. “You look at what the media says about us: It’s Laramie Project, it’s Brokeback Mountain, it’s (the murder of) Matt Shepard. These aren’t the most positive representations, at least for happy, healthy, adjusted gay folk. So for me, it helps rectify that sort of depressing, dysphoric reputation we have."
I can see how if you lived in Wyoming it would be bittersweet as a gay Wyomingite to have such strong ties to gay rights in history and popular culture, but in such a tragic way.

At the same time (and I know this is petty compared to Matthew Shepard, but still) I loved Brokeback Mountain, both the Annie Proulx novella and movie. And I was near tears a few times yesterday thinking about how stoic old cowboy Ennis would react to this news. There likely are old cowboys in Wyoming right now reacting the same way.
posted by nicebookrack at 8:26 AM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


\o/
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:49 AM on October 22, 2014


But it is still a wide open field in the competition to be The Biggest Asshole When It Comes to Implementing the Law.

“The court’s expansion of the freedoms of some should not violate the well-recognized constitutional rights of others,” Berger said in a statement with no sense of fucking irony.
posted by dances with hamsters at 9:11 AM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


I am really, really hoping that the shenanigans of Tillis et. al. lose them enough votes in a few weeks that my state swings back towards to middle. I don't want us to necessarily go super left (I may be a pinkie socialist, but balance is good) either, I just want us to be back to the nice purple state that we've been for a good long time now.

Thankfully, some of the conservatives I know seem to be noticing that this is a colossal waste of state resources, so maybe that will result in some action in the voter box.
posted by joycehealy at 11:27 AM on October 22, 2014


wait, I totally didn't even notice that over 60% of states allow gay marriage now

I have Freedom to Marry's map set as my browser homepage for a little surprise jolt of happiness every time I open a new session.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:37 PM on October 22, 2014


Huzzah! These announcements never get tired. *high five* to Wyoming!
posted by donajo at 1:58 PM on October 22, 2014


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