Tag: Same Sex Marriage

Fairness Focused on Next Steps in Fight for Equality

The LGBT advocacy organization Fairness West Virginia held their annual conference in Charleston Saturday and this year, the group had plenty to celebrate. 

After saying he would no longer fight an appeal to the state’s gay marriage ban, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s decision essentially made the practice legal in the state and on Oct. 9, county clerks began issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples across the state.

Fairness Executive Director Andrew Schneider said Saturday that’s certainly something to celebrate, but the fight isn’t yet over. Now, the organization is looking on to its next legislative battles. 

The results of the mid-term elections were something many LGBT advocates expressed dismay about, but Schneider said the idea that his organization can’t work with the new Republican leadership is a myth.

“We were more accustomed to working with Democrats, but we have always worked with Republicans,” Schneider said. “With that said, we need to do a lot more outreach to Republicans now that they’re in power.”

Schneider said he thinks it’s an easy sell. Republicans tend to be seen as business friendly, Schneider said, and bills that protect equality are attractive to businesses.

“This makes perfect economic sense,” Schneider said. “You build a society that is just and inclusive and businesses will won’t to relocate here because they can attract the best and brightest employees who want to live in a place that’s inclusive for everyone.”

Even so, Schneider recognizes his organization had trouble getting a bill passed to protect LGBT people both in housing and the workplace even when the Democrats controlled both houses at the state level.

This year, he said, he plans to work with cities to pass ordinances on the local level like Charleston, Huntington and Morgantown have.

“We’re going to build them from the ground up trying to get nondiscrimination ordinances passed in all corners of the state, in all communities and build the grassroots to the point where the state legislature can no longer ignore,” he said.

Those protections become even more necessary with marriage equality according to Schneider as homosexual couples begin to do the things heterosexual couples do, like bringing husbands or wives to company parties. 

Same Sex Couples Are Now Covered by PEIA

A spokeswoman for the Department of Administration confirmed Thursday that married, same sex couples in West Virginia are now able to apply for coverage under the state’s Public Employee Insurance Agency.

The change comes after Attorney General Patrick Morrisey decided last week to no longer defend the state’s gay marriage ban in federal court. Governor Tomblin soon after released a statement directing state agencies to “take appropriate action” to make the practice legal in West Virginia, including the reprinting of marriage license applications.

Diane Holley-Brown, communications director for the Department of Administration, said same sex spouses were able to enroll in the program immediately after the governor’s announcement was made, but said the enrollment system is not able to track same sex marriages specifically. 

Outside of an open enrollment period, state employees can only buy coverage in the program when they experience what’s referred to by the industry as a “qualifying event.” That includes things like marriage, divorce, or a birth in the family.

Holley-Brown said the governor’s decision to essentially change the definition of marriage then made those couples immediately eligible to purchase an insurance plan under PEIA.

Meet the First Gay Couples to Get Marriage Licenses In West Virginia

Just a few hours after Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced he would no longer fight a challenge to West Virginia’s gay marriage ban in court and Governor Tomblin directed state agencies to begin taking steps toward allowing the practice, Chris Bostic and David Epp of Charleston were the first couple to apply for a marriage license in Kanawha County.

Moments before, Justin Murdock and William Glavaris, as well as Casie McGee and Sarah Adkins received their licenses to marry in Cabell County.

Counties across West Virginia are issuing the licenses after orders from the state saying not to turn couples away.

Hear more from assistant news director and statehouse reporter Ashton Marra from an extended newscast on Thursday, October 9th:

Gov. Tomblin, Attorney General Issue Statements on Same-Sex Marriage in West Virginia

 
  Update:   The state Department of Health and Human Resources says it expects that county clerks across the state will be able to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples by Tuesday, October 14 at the latest.

  Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today issued the following statement regarding same-sex marriage in West Virginia.
 

"As the attorney general stated today, recent rulings by several federal courts, combined with the refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to hear this issue, make it clear that laws banning same-sex marriage have been declared unconstitutional. I do not plan to take any actions that would seek to overturn the courts' decisions. West Virginia will uphold the law according to these rulings, and I have directed state agencies to take appropriate action to make that possible.   "Our state is known for its kindness and hospitality to residents and visitors alike. I encourage all West Virginians – regardless of their personal beliefs – to uphold our statewide tradition of treating one another with dignity and respect."

Tomblin’s statement follows the decision from Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to end attempts to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Morrisey’s statement is as follows:

“On Oct. 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court decided it would not take up the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to set aside Virginia’s law regarding same-sex marriage. By refusing to consider the appeal, the Supreme Court has caused the Appeals Court's decision to become final and binding on West Virginia.  While we disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Fourth Circuit’s opinion to stand and believe it improperly displaces state and local decision-making, we will respect it.      “As the state’s Attorney General, it is my duty to defend state laws that have been passed by the state Legislature and are consistent with the Constitution. We have discharged this duty faithfully. In the upcoming days, we will now seek to bring to a close the pending litigation over West Virginia’s marriage laws, consistent with the Fourth Circuit’s now-binding decision.   “As we have repeatedly indicated in our court filings, however, others not involved in the litigation will be necessary to actually bring the State into compliance with the Fourth Circuit’s decision.  Neither the Attorney General nor the two named county clerks have the power to change uniform state marriage forms and procedures.  Only the State Registrar may alter state marriage forms, and the Secretary of State’s Office has authority over marriage celebrants and their ability to solemnize marriages.  While we will take steps to seek to end the litigation, the conclusion of the lawsuit cannot and will not alone effectuate the Fourth Circuit’s mandate.” 

U.S. Judge Lifts Hold on W.Va. Gay Marriage Suit, Withholds Final Ruling

A federal judge has lifted his hold on a lawsuit challenging West Virginia's ban on same-sex marriages.U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers on Tuesday…

  A federal judge has lifted his hold on a lawsuit challenging West Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriages.

U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers on Tuesday ordered the state and two county clerks to respond to a motion by plaintiffs by Oct. 21.

The motion filed Monday by attorneys for three same-sex couples asked Chambers to grant their motion for summary judgment based on the outcome of a similar case in Virginia.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned away appeals from a handful of states Monday, including Virginia. The West Virginia case was on hold, pending a decision by the court.

The West Virginia lawsuit filed in 2013 by Lambda Legal says the Kanawha and Cabell county clerks denied the six adults marriage licenses under the state law, effectively denying them many benefits.

What Does the U.S. Supreme Court's Inaction Mean for Gay Marriage in W.Va.?

When the United States Supreme Court ruled Monday not to consider the appeals before them against lower courts’ same sex marriage rulings that meant five…

When the United States Supreme Court ruled Monday not to consider the appeals before them against lower courts’ same sex marriage rulings that meant five new states could now issues marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. 

But that list of five states, Virginia, Utah, Indiana, Oklahoma and Wisconsin, does not include West Virginia. Well, at least not explicitly.

“It also is likely to mean that in the six additional states in the 4th and 7th and 10th judicial circuits, we are likely to soon see the ability of same sex couples to marry,” Jon Davidson, legal director with Lamdba Legal said during an informational conference call Monday night.

West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and North and South Carolina make up the 4th Judicial Circuit on the federal appellate court level, meaning a the ruling that Virginia’s same sex marriage ban is unconstitutional will now have legal implications in all of the other states in the circuit.

The final ruling on that, though, is left up to Federal District Court Judge Robert Chambers in Huntington. Chambers put a case challenging West Virginia’s same sex marriage ban on hold earlier this year saying he wanted to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Virginia case.

Camilla Taylor, Lambda Legal’s national marriage project director, said the organization immediately began filing documents in the West Virginia case asking the judge to rule against the ban.

A member of Chambers’ staff reportedly said Monday he would not immediately issue an opinion, but did not estimate when a final judgment would be released.

So, in West Virginia, the statute that defines marriage as between a man and a woman still stands and courts must uphold the law, but Fairness West Virginia Executive Director Andrew Schneider said he believes it’s just a matter of time before gay and lesbian couples in the state are afforded the same rights as straight couples.

“It’s just the right thing to do given the fact that so much of the country is now opening its doors to marriage equality,” Schneider said. “It’s well past time for West Virginia to do the same.”

In a press release Tuesday, Allen White, president of The Family Policy Council of West Virginia, a conservative policy group who lobbies the state legislature on social issues, said the court’s decision cost people of faith their First Amendment rights.

“Over the last 15 years, more than 40 million Americans in more than 30 states have voted at the ballot box to define marriage as one man and one woman,” White said, “and in the last 12 months some U.S. judges have attempted to erase those votes.”

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