Celebrating 41 Years! Issue 36 Volume 42
Seattle Gay News
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SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
We win two:
Seventh Circuit strikes Indiana and Wisconsin marriage bans John Gress / Courtesy Reuters
Federal Judge Richard Posner
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals handed the LGBT community two victories with a September 4 ruling striking down same-sex marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin. As expected, the three-judge panel ruled unanimously that laws prohibiting same-sex marriage violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Their deliberations took only nine days – unusually quick for an appeals court. Writing for the court, Judge Richard Posner reprised the scathing critique of marriage bans he debuted during oral arguments. “The only rationale that the states put forth with any conviction – that same-sex couples and their children don’t need marriage because samesex couples can’t produce children, intended or unintended – is so full of holes that it cannot be taken seriously,” he wrote.
“Because homosexuality is not a voluntary condition and homosexuals are among the most stigmatized, misunderstood, and discriminated-against minorities in the history of the world, the disparagement of their sexual orientation, implicit in the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples, is a source of continuing pain to the homosexual community,” Posner said. “Not that allowing same-sex marriage will change in the short run the negative views that many Americans hold of same-sex marriage,” he continued. “But it will enhance the status of these marriages in the eyes of other Americans, and in the long run it may convert some of the opponents of such marriage by demonstrating that homosexual married couples are in essential respects, notably in the care of their adopted children, like other married couples.” During oral arguments last month, he compared same-sex see We Win two page 8
We lose one:
AP
The Advocate / MATTHEW HINTON
U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan to Judge upholds Louisiana marriage ban leave office after 5 years of service
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A federal district judge upheld Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriages in a September 3 ruling, breaking the string of more than 20 federal court decisions striking similar laws in other states. In his decision, Judge Martin Feldman ruled that the Louisiana law was valid because it met rational basis review – in other words, it was not motivated solely by bias against Gay and Lesbian couples. In contrast, other federal judges have held that a higher standard of scrutiny should apply, and the state should have to demonstrate some
compelling interest in preventing Gay and Lesbian couples from marrying. Some judges have found that laws banning same-sex marriages do not even pass rational basis review, saying they are discriminatory on their face. The case, Robicheaux v. Caldwell, involves several samesex couples who want to marry in Louisiana or have legal marriages performed in other jurisdictions recognized by the state. Forum for Equality Louisiana, a statewide LGBT rights organization, is also a plaintiff in the case. Forum for Equality pledged to appeal the decision.
Jenny Durkan
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Jenny Durkan announced Wednesday that she would leave at the end of September after serving five years in office. Durkan was in the first group of six U.S. attorneys nominated by President Barack Obama in May 2009 and see We Lose One page 8 was confirmed unanimously by the
U.S. Senate in September 2009. In a statement released Wednesday, Durkan said, “I have been honored to serve the communities in Western Washington, to lead an office of extraordinary people and public servants, and to work with dedicated federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement. Together we have taken on a range of challenges, threats and bad actors. We have made our nation and communities safer, while
also making our civil rights stronger.” Additionally, Attorney General Eric Holder praised Durkan for serving as a “tireless advocate for the American people, for the citizens of Washington state, and for the cause of justice.” Durkan served for two years on Holder’s Attorney General Advisory Committee, and has chaired see Durkan page 8