Benjamin Moore and Tadd Roberts on Friday wore matching tuxedos to the county clerk’s office in Louisville to capitalize on the US Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex marriages should be recognized.
They were among a rush of couples across the US’ south and Midwest who held spontaneous ceremonies. They were young and old, they wore gowns and suits or T-shirts and jeans, they waved flags that read: “love wins.”
“It’s just been incredible and historic and amazing to live this moment,” Moore said after getting commemorative photographs of him and Roberts with their license.
However, the reaction was not as welcoming in some of the 14 states that had been the last holdouts against same-sex marriages, creating confusion as some officials embraced the ruling and others resisted it.
In rural Alabama, Pike County Probate Judge Wes Allen said he would stop issuing all marriage licenses to avoid having to give them to homosexual couples.
Allen said Alabama law gives judges the option of granting licenses, and “I have chosen not to perform that function.”
Governors in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas also railed against the ruling. Clerks in some of the affected states refused to issue licenses, citing a three-week grace period allowed by the Supreme Court or forms now out of date that specify “bride” and “groom.”
However, by Friday afternoon, couples had received licenses in all but one of the 14 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
In Louisiana, where Republican Governor Bobby Jindal is running for the White House as a Christian, same-sex couples were turned away.
In Texas, many counties held off on issuing same-sex licenses until receiving guidance from Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who scolded the Supreme Court, but left counties in limbo for hours. The delay dragged on for hours in Houston, until the clerk relented and agreed not to wait for updated forms from the state.
Other clerks scrambled to issue licenses as couples rushed to their offices.
In Arkansas, Pulaski County Clerk Larry Crane held a hand to his heart after the court’s ruling.
“It is a special day,” he said. “I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Jessica Dent and Carolee Taylor held a ceremony a few blocks from the courthouse in Montgomery, Alabama.
“Never thought it would happen in our lifetime,” Taylor said.
Later, they returned to the courthouse to file their license, making them recognized as married in the state that had fought against efforts to legalize gay marriage. After a federal judge ruled earlier this year that the state’s gay marriage ban was unconstitutional, the Alabama Supreme Court directly ordered probate judges to stop issuing the licenses.
“We waited so long. When it came through, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate, the decision and our love,” said Dent, walking out of the courthouse holding a sign that read: “All love is equal.”
The Human Rights Campaign sent letters to the governors of the 14 affected states warning that delaying issuing marriage licenses would be unlawful.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS