Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 330, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 28, 2015 Page: 4 of 100
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GAY MARRIAGE RULING
4A
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Denton Record-Chronicle
Same-sex marriage prevails after struggle
The effort predates the mar-
riage equality movement — gay
rights activism surfaced in the
U.S. in the 1950s with the forma-
tion of pioneering national orga-
nizations such as the Matta-
chine Society and the Daughters
of Bilitis. The first gay-rights
protest in front of the White
House took place in 1965; police
harassment of patrons at the
Stonewall Inn, a New York City
gay bar, sparked three days of ri-
ots in June 1969.
In the 1970s, gay activism ex-
panded to encompass marriage.
The first lawsuit in the U.S.
seeking same-sex marriage
rights was filed in Minnesota by
Jack Baker and Michael
McConnell after a county clerk
denied their application for a
marriage license in 1970.
On appeal, the case went all
the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court, which dismissed it, there-
by upholding Minnesota’s law
limiting marriage to heterosexu-
al unions.
“Finally, the Supreme Court
affirmed the question we raised
44 years ago,” McConnell said in
an email Saturday. “I’m a patient
man, but 44 years is a long time
to wait for this intuitively obvi-
ous answer.”
Marry that played a key role in
developing the campaign’s strat-
By David Crary
AP National Writer
NEW YORK
m
Back in
1996, President Bill Clinton
signed a law stipulating that the
federal government would not
recognize marriages between
same-sex couples. On Friday
night, the White House was illu-
minated with rainbow colors in
celebration of the Supreme
Court ruling legalizing such
marriages in every state of the
nation.
For gay-rights activists, the
two decades between those mo-
ments were marked by a dramat-
ic mix of setbacks and victories.
As recently as 2004 there
was widespread despair among
proponents as voters in 13 states
approved constitutional amend-
ments banning same-sex mar-
riage. At that time, some activ-
ists questioned whether mar-
riage equality was a realistic
goal. Others, while wary of ap-
pearing too optimistic, suggest-
ed gay marriage might take hold
by 2020.
“In that climate, it sounded
ambitious and bold, but it rallied
a critical mass of leaders to be-
lieve maybe it was attainable,”
said Evan Wolfson, president of
the advocacy group Freedom to
egies.
That once audacious timeta-
ble proved to be overcautious.
As more gay people came out of
the closet, more of their relatives
and acquaintances became sup-
portive of gay rights. Popular
television shows such as Will
and Grace and Modem Family
accelerated acceptance with em-
pathetic portrayals of gay char-
acters. Opinion polls over the
past 10 years showed a huge shift
in attitudes toward same-sex
marriage, which is now support-
ed by 55 percent to 60 percent of
Americans.
And over the past two years, a
series of state and federal court
rulings fueled hopes that victory
was imminent.
U.S. District Judge Robert
Shelby alluded to the public
opinion shift in his December
2013 ruling striking down Utah’s
ban on gay marriage as uncon-
stitutional.
“It is not the Constitution
that has changed, but the knowl-
edge of what it means to be gay
or lesbian,” he wrote.
The 2004 election, which
dismayed gay-rights activists at
the time, “was a last rearguard
P
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Same-sex marriage supporters hold up balloons that spell the words “love wins” as they stand
in front of the White House, which is lit up in rainbow colors in commemoration of the Su-
preme Court’s ruling to legalize same-sex marriage, on Friday in Washington.
effort in a losing fight,” according
to Tobias Barrington Wolff, a
professor at the University of
Pennsylvania Law School.
“The progress that followed
built on victories in legislatures,
victories in courts, and on the
growing public consensus that
there is no good reason to treat
LGBT people as second-class
tence of its supporters in his re-
marks Friday hailing the Su-
preme Court decision.
“Sometimes two steps for-
ward, one step back,” he said.
“And then sometimes there are
days like this, when that slow,
steady effort is rewarded with
justice that arrives like a thun-
derbolt.”
citizens,” he said in an email Sat-
urday. “That consensus was not
imposed by judges; rather, it
helped to educate judges and
make visible the claim of equal
citizenship that the Supreme
Court finally vindicated.”
President Barack Obama,
who endorsed gay marriage in
2012, paid tribute to the persis-
Where Texas now
stands after gay
marriage legalized
Gay marriage opponents push on
woman vowed to defend rights
of religious objectors and to try
to battle back politically.
There were also scattered
holdouts, with some officials in
those states contending they
needed more time and legal di-
rection before complying with
the 5-4 ruling.
“Texans’ fundamental right
to religious liberty remains
protected,” Texas Republican
Gov. Greg Abbott said. “No
Texan is required by the Su-
preme Court’s decision to act
contrary to his or her religious
beliefs regarding marriage.”
His office later clarified a di-
rective to state agencies telling
them to preserve religious lib-
erties, saying the order didn’t
allow them to discriminate
against employees in same-sex
couples. Governors in Louisi-
ana and Mississippi also railed
against the ruling.
“This has always been about
our religious freedoms and the
persecution of those who be-
lieve same-sex unions are
wrong,” said Phil Burress, long-
time leader of the Citizens for
Community Values in subur-
ban Cincinnati.
The Roman Catholic arch-
bishop of Cincinnati said the
high court disregarded the will
of voters in Ohio and other
states, besides disregarding an
understanding of marriage
shared by virtually all cultures
until recently.
“Every nation has laws lim-
iting who and under what cir-
cumstances people can be
married,” Archbishop Dennis
Schnurr said in a statement.
Religious organizations are
exempt from the ruling, and
churches including Southern
Baptists, Mormons and others
that oppose same-sex marriag-
es can still make their own de-
cisions about whether clergy
will conduct gay marriages in
their places of worship.
The high court gave the los-
ing side some three weeks to
ask for reconsideration. The 14
states that had banned gay
marriage are Alabama, Arkan-
sas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisi-
ana, Michigan, Mississippi,
most of Missouri, Nebraska,
North Dakota, Ohio, South
Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
By Dan Sewell
Associated Press
CINCINNATI - With the
mayor of Dayton declaring
“you are now husband and
husband,” the wait for Ohio to
allow same-sex marriage end-
ed for a gay couple in the city
just as it is ending for couples
across the last states with bans
on such unions — even if the
opposition isn’t over.
Some couples rushed to
marriage license bureaus and
even wed Friday within hours
of the Supreme Court ruling
that said gay couples can marry
anywhere in the country, in-
cluding in the 14 remaining
states with bans. Steadfast ac-
tivists who say traditional mar-
riage is defined as a man and a
The ACLU of Texas says it
will now watch to see whether
state agencies use Abbott’s order
as a way to avoid complying with
the Supreme Court ruling.
By Paul J. Weber
Associated Press
AUSTIN — How same-sex
marriage is reverberating across
Texas after the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled that gays and lesbi-
ans have the right to wed:
Q: Where are Texans
marrying?
Mostly in urban and liberal
pockets of Texas — or, in other
words, the biggest cities. Dallas,
Austin and San Antonio began
handing out marriage licenses to
same-sex couples within hours
of the court’s ruling on Friday,
and hundreds have already been
issued.
Couples in Houston are also
getting licenses after the Harris
County clerk, an elected Repub-
lican, gave up on waiting for an
OK from the state.
Q: Can gay or lesbian state
employees now put their
spouses on their health
plans?
Probably not immediately.
University of Texas at Austin
President Greg Fenves tweeted
that the state’s largest public uni-
versity would have more infor-
mation about benefits next
week.
And although Abbott’s order
says it applies to “granting or de-
nying benefits,” his office later
clarified that does not mean de-
DENTON’S PERPETUAL CARE CEMETERY
SERVING ALL FAITHS IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE
nying benefits to same-sex cou-
ples.
■
Rebecca Robertson, the legal
and policy director of the ACLU
of Texas, said it may take state
officials a little time to figure this
out but said she was optimistic
that Texas will soon recognize
that a state employee can’t be
discriminated against because
of their same-sex marriage.
Q: Can anyone deny a
same-sex couple over
religious objections?
The Supreme Court decision
does not extend to the church,
and the Republican-controlled
Texas Legislature passed a law
earlier this year that reaffirmed
the right for clergy members to
refuse marrying same-couples
on religious grounds.
Gay rights groups backed the
law, saying they also support re-
ligious freedom, but they’re now
watching closely for county
clerks who might cite religious
objections and refuse to give
same-sex couples marriage li-
censes.
A government employee who
does so would deny a protection
the Supreme Court has now
granted.
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Q: What’s the holdup
everywhere else?
A number of Texas’ 254
counties are standing pat until
hearing from Republican Attor-
ney General Ken Paxton, who
had urged local officials not to
rush into giving same-sex cou-
ples marriage licenses.
Paxton said Friday that his
office would “shortly” address
how counties should handle the
decision but set no timetable.
Others claimed technical
glitches: Officials in Denton and
Williamson counties said their
license software isn’t designed to
process gay couples just yet.
Q: What are state leaders
doing in response?
That largely remains to be
seen. Aside from Paxton leaving
counties in limbo, Republican
Gov. Greg Abbott sent a two-
page order to agency leaders tell-
ing them that the government
cannot pressure people to vio-
late their religious beliefs or dis-
criminate against businesses
that raise religious objections.
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 330, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 28, 2015, newspaper, June 28, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124974/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .