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Alaska to issue first marriage licenses to same-sex couples after surprise ruling
Alaska governor promises appeal after judge strikes down gay-marriage ban
(about 3 hours later)
The state of Alaska will begin accepting marriage applications from same-sex couples first thing on Monday, after a federal judge struck down the state’s ban on gay marriage – the nation’s first such ban approved by voters.
Several gay couples lined up early on Monday in Alaska to apply for marriage licenses after a federal judge struck down the state’s ban on same-sex unions.
The decision on Sunday caught many people off guard. No rallies were immediately planned, but some plaintiffs celebrated over drinks at an Anchorage bar.
Matthew Hamby, the lead plaintiff in the case to make gay marriage legal in Alaska, was among the first to arrive to get his license in the city of Anchorage and spent most of the morning helping others. He got to his application only after the steady stream of couples began to dwindle.
Matthew Hamby, who along with his husband Christopher Shelden was one of five couples to sue, was “just having drinks with friends, enjoying it”.
“This is just an amazing day for Alaska. We’re just so fortunate that so many have fought for equality for so long – I mean, decades,” said Susan Tow, who along with her wife, Chris Laborde, were among the couples who sought to overturn Alaska’s ban.
He said he was “elated” US district court judge Timothy Burgess sided with them, and he planned to among the first in line to apply for a license on Monday.
With the judge’s decision Sunday, the far-flung conservative state became the latest to see its ban struck down in a flurry of legal rulings that have drastically changed the landscape for same-sex marriage across America.
“This is just an amazing day for Alaska. We’re just so fortunate that so many have fought for equality for so long – I mean, decades,” said Susan Tow, who along with her wife, Chris Laborde, were among couples who sought to overturn Alaska’s ban.
Governor Sean Parnell has promised an appeal to get the ban reinstated, and lawyers for the state are looking for weaknesses in the ruling. But the state’s chances of winning an appeal to the ninth circuit court of appeals were slim since it already ruled last week against gay marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada.
The state will begin accepting applications first thing Monday morning, Phillip Mitchell, with the state Department of Vital Statistics, told the Associated Press in an email. Alaska has a three-day waiting period between between applications and marriage ceremonies.
The developments in Alaska came one week since the US supreme court declined to hear appeals from several states seeking to retain their bans on same-sex marriage. The 6 October move effectively legalized gay marriage in about 30 states and triggered a flurry of rulings and confusion in lower courts across the nation, including the Alaska decision, as lower courts and states worked through when weddings can begin.
Earlier in the week, the US supreme court declined to hear appeals from several states that were seeking to retain their bans on same-sex marriage.
Alaska has a three-day waiting period between applications and marriage ceremonies, meaning the first unions could come Thursday.
The move on 6 October means that gay marriage is now effectively legal in about 30 states. But much of last week was marked by confusion as lower courts and states worked through when weddings can begin.
Alaska gay marriage opponents have said the matter should be decided by the people, not the courts.
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court in the West overturned marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho. On Thursday, West Virginia officials began issuing gay marriage licenses, and Kansas’ most populous county issued a marriage license Friday to a gay couple, believed to be the first such license in the state.
Hamby called the governor’s plans “ridiculous and futile.” He said restoring the ban would harm same-sex couples by depriving them of equal protection under the law, a position US District Court Judge Timothy Burgess agreed with in his ruling Sunday.
Sunday’s ruling in Alaska came in a lawsuit brought by five gay couples who had asked the state in May to overturn a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1998, the first such ban in the nation. The amendment defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.
“Refusing the rights and responsibilities afforded by legal marriage sends the public a government-sponsored message that same-sex couples and their familial relationships do not warrant the status, benefits and dignity given to couples of the opposite sex,” Burgess wrote in overturning the ban.
Five gay couples brought the Alaska lawsuit in May, seeking to overturn a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1998. The Alaska amendment defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.
The lawsuit sought to bar enforcement of Alaska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. It also called for barring enforcement of any state laws that refuse to recognize gay marriages legally performed in other states or countries or that prevent unmarried gay couples from marrying.
The lawsuit sought to bar enforcement of Alaska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. It also called for barring enforcement of any state laws that refuse to recognize gay marriages legally performed in other states or countries or that prevent unmarried gay couples from marrying.
Burgess heard arguments Friday afternoon and promised a quick decision. He released his 25-page decision Sunday afternoon.
“Refusing the rights and responsibilities afforded by legal marriage sends the public a government-sponsored message that same-sex couples and their familial relationships do not warrant the status, benefits and dignity given to couples of the opposite sex,” Burgess wrote.
“This Court finds that Alaska’s same-sex marriage laws violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment because no state interest provides ‘excessively persuasive justification’ for the significant infringement of rights that they inflicted upon homosexual individuals,” he wrote.
Governor Sean Parnell said in a statement on Sunday he was appealing to defend and uphold the law and the Alaska constitution.
“Although the district court today may have been bound by the recent 9th circuit panel opinion, the status of that opinion and the law in general in this area is in flux,” he said.
State lawyers were reviewing Burgess decision and working on the next steps to appeal.
Joshua Decker, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, said Alaska has no legal chance of prevailing at either the 9th circuit court or with the US supreme court.
“It’s really unfortunate the governor wants to continue to swim against the tide of history and try to perpetuate discrimination against Alaskans,” said Decker. “We’re disappointed but that’s not going to dampen our elation.”
Hamby said the appeal was “ridiculous and futile”.
He also called it misguided “because it continues to injure same-sex couples who love each other and just want to get married”.
If the state does appeal to the 9th circuit court, chances of winning were slim since the federal appeals court already has ruled against Idaho and Nevada, which made similar arguments.
Alaska voters in 1998 approved a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. But in the past year, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that prevented legally married same-sex couples from receiving a range of federal benefits. Federal courts also have since struck down state constitutional bans in a number of states.
The plaintiffs are Hamby and Shelden; Laborde and Tow; Sean Egan and David Robinson; Tracey Wiese and Katrina Cortez; and Courtney Lamb and Stephanie Pearson. Lamb and Pearson are unmarried.
Tow on Sunday said she was happy for the children of Alaska gay couples who will now see their parents recognized.
“We never thought we’d see this in our lives,” she said.
