Good morning Utah, Virginia, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin

[TotallyOz]

— you've got marriage equality! That makes 30 states now with marriage equality. I didn't think I'd see this in my lifetime but happy I did!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/us/denying-review-justices-clear-way-for-gay-marriage-in-5-states.html

[AdamSmith]

"...Couples in six other states -- Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming -- should be able to get married in short order. Those states would be bound by the same appellate rulings that were put on hold pending the Supreme Court's review..."

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/10/supreme_court_gay_marriage.html

[AdamSmith]

RALEIGH -- The U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to review appeals court rulings from seven states striking down gay-marriage bans could make it possible for same-sex couples to wed in North Carolina by the end of the week.

Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union announced within an hour of the Monday decision their plans to file court documents late Monday seeking nullification of North Carolina's Constitutional amendment defining marrage as a union between a man and a woman.

North Carolina is one of five states in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which earlier this year struck down Virginia's gay marriage ban.

"The Supreme Court's decision means that the freedom to marry for same-sex couples must be recognized here in North Carolina without delay," Chris Brook, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina, said in a statement on Monday. "We are asking the district court here in North Carolina to immediately issue a ruling striking down North Carolina's unconstitutional and discriminatory ban on marriage for same-sex couples. Every day that gay and lesbian couples in North Carolina are denied the ability to marry the person they love places their families and children in legal and financial jeopardy. The time has come to end this unfair treatment once and for all and to let our American values of freedom and equality apply to all couples."

In late July, after the Fourth Circuit struck down Virginias ban, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge in the Middle District of North Carolina, which spans from Durham west to Winston-Salem, to nullify North Carolinas gay marriage ban. The proceedings were halted when U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts halted the immediate effect of the Fourth Circuit ruling while the countrys highest court weighed whether to take up the appeal of the Virginia ruling.

Roy Cooper, the North Carolina attorney general and a Democrat widely believed to be a possible gubernatorial candidate in 2016, has said he no longer would defend the 2012 amendment to the N.C. Constitution that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Claude Pope, the North Carolina Republican party chairman, said Monday at a news conference that he was disappointed with the U.S. Supreme Courts decision.

"The marriage amendment here passed overwhelmingly, Pope said. So its a little disappointing to see such a mandate by the people get overturned at the higher court level. Time will tell whether North Carolinas law will stand."

Blythe: 919-836-4948; Twitter: @AnneBlythe1

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/06/4212101/supreme-courts-action-gives-hope.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

[AdamSmith]

This supreme court decision NOT to decide might be the best thing that ever happened to gay marriage

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/06/supreme-court-decision-gay-marriage-case

[AdamSmith]

A guide to same-sex marriage in the US after the supreme court declined appeal

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/gay-marriage-state-supreme-court-guide-license

[AdamSmith]

[AdamSmith]

US appeals judges strike down same-sex marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho

Gay marriage becomes legal in two conservative states in first ruling since supreme court decided not to hear appeals on bans in five other states

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/07/appeals-judges-strike-down-gay-marriage-ban-idaho-nevada

Federal judges struck down same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada on Tuesday, one day after the US supreme court, by opting not to hear several appeals, essentially allowed bans to be overturned in at least five and as many as 11 other states.

A three-judge panel of the ninth circuit US court of appeals ruled that the bans violated the fourteenth amendments equal protection clause. The decision could be a catalyst for same-sex marriage to become legal in Montana, Arizona and Alaska, which also fall under the ninth circuits jurisdiction...

...Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Stephen Reinhardt sharply criticized the defendants in a 34-page opinion that called state bans on same-sex marriage cruel and repugnant.

"Plaintiffs are ordinary Idahoans and Nevadans," said Reindhardt. "One teaches deaf children. Another is a warehouse manager. A third is an historian. Most are parents. Like all human beings, their lives are given greater meaning by their intimate, loving."

"Classifying some families, and especially their children, as of lesser value should be repugnant to all those in this nation who profess to believe in family values," Reindhardt wrote.

As for the argument that same-sex marriage could negatively affect heterosexual marriages, Reindhardt said: "We seriously doubt that allowing committed same-sex couples to settle down in legally recognized marriages will drive opposite-sex couples to sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll."

[Guest hitoallusa]

I give up! Too many possibilities and options..

[AdamSmith]

I give up! Too many possibilities and options..

Ah-HA!