Marriage Battle Of Minnesota Set

Well, at the beginning of the New Year, it was expected in GL world that a marriage referendum would occur in a state beginning with the letter 'M'.

But surprise, surprise that state is Minnesota, not Maryland.

In another example GL peeps of elections mattering and what happens when you sit one out, the Minnesota House and Senate came under the control of the Republicans as a result of the 2010 midterms.

The DFL when they had control of the Legislature blocked that amendment.  But when you sit elections out, it's a vote for your GOP oppressors.

DFLer Mark Dayton is in the governor's mansion.   But when it comes to constitutional amendments, the governor can't do squat about them.   They don't require his signature, and he can't veto it if it passes.  All he can do is campaign either for or against it, and he's already on record as being opposed to it.

Minnesota law already bans same gender marriage, but the GOP legislators supporting the unjust amendment said it is necessary to prevent judges or lawmakers from legalizing it in the future.

What, no 'Jobs, jobs, jobs' legislation from the GOP majority?  


After six hours of emotional debate, the Minnesota House approved on a 70-62 nearly party line vote last night a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.   Four Republicans voted 'NO' and two Democrats voted 'YES'.

The Republican controlled Minnesota Senate approved the proposed amendment by a 38-27 vote that also fell almost completely along party lines.   Only one DFL senator Leroy Stumpf voted for it.

It sets the stage for what is sure to be a contentious November 2012 ballot question smack dab in the middle of the 2012 presidential election that will spike conservafool voter turnout. 


As a reminder folks, when it comes to constitutional amendment same gender marriage bans, the Forces of Intolerance have momentum and a 31-0 record.  But can Minnesota be the state that bucks the trend?

60% of the state's population of 5.3 million people live in the Minneapolis-St Paul area. 

I also thought I'd point out that only 4.4% of the population of Minnesota is African-American, and Rep Keith Ellison, the first African American congressmember from Minnesota is in favor of marriage equality..   

So if that referenda record goes to 32-0, don't want to hear any rainbow shade thrown at African American voters.  Aim your Hateraid at the peeps who brought you this referendum pain, the Catholic Church, NOM and the Republican Party.


Well, it's going to be a 18 month long, hard, expensive and ugly battle.    You're going to see milllions of dollars and reams of campaign ads flow into the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  

Joanne Cassar Loses Appeal

The roller coaster legal ride of Malta's Joanne Cassar continues as the Maltese Constitutional Court upheld the appeal of the Maltese Attorney General this morning in her ongoing marriage battle in which she has won some rounds and lost some.

Joanne has been battling this since 2006, when she and her then fiance were denied marriage banns by the Malta Marriage Registrar despited being post surgical..   She won a round in February 2007, it was revoked on a 2008 appeal, and she won again in December 2010, 

According to the Times of Malta, The sentence delivered by the Constitutional Court presided by Judges Geoffrey Valenzia, Giannino Caruana Demajo and Tonio Mallia affirmed that a breach of articles 8 & 12 of the Convention on Human Rights had taken place in respect of Joanne Cassar. However the Court stated that this breach occurred due to a lacuna in Maltese legislation that did not allow for transgender persons to enter into what it termed 'a life partnership'.

Needless to say not only was Cassar and her attorneys disappointed with this latest ruling, so was the Malta Gay Rights Movement.  It pointed out that the Constitutional Court ruling failing to recognize Joanne Cassar as a woman who could marry a man went against the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights as expressed in Goodwin vs UK and other recent judgements and jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice.

The MGRM also noted that the court adopted “the narrowest possible interpretation of gender based solely on biological criteria,” to deny Ms Cassar’s right to have her affirmed gender identity recognized by law.


Stay tuned, this one is going to Strasbourg, France and the European Court of Human Rights.

TransGriot Note:   Initial reaction from TGEU.   Nothing yet from Joanne Cassar or her legal team. 

Joanne Cassar Malta Marriage Case Update 2

Another trans marriage case I've been watching besides the Araguz one transpiring here in Texas and the Ms W one which is being appealed in Hong Kong is the five year long one involving Joanne Cassar of Malta.

The last time I posted about it back in December, she'd just won a major victory that granted her (and trans people in general) marriage rights in Malta.

The Malta Attorney General promptly appealed.the decision and the appeal will be heard on May 23.

When I posted in March her attorneys had filed their necessary response papers to th AG's appeal.   Should Cassar receive an unfavorable ruling she is prepared to fight this issue all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

Let's just hope and pray it works out in her favor again on the 23rd.

Maryland Same Gender Marriage Bill Derailed

Wow..the same gender marriage bill in Maryland got derailed before it even left the Legislature.

I was expecting it to pass and have to face a referendum, but the shocking news out of Annapolis is that the bill has been sent to committee where it will probably die.   With 2012 being an election year, I don't realistically see it coming back up until 2013.

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) had this to say about what happened

“It is my firm belief that equality under the law means equality for everyone, and our laws should reflect that fundamental principle. Together, we’ve worked hard to protect and expand these rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens in our state.  It was my hope to sign a marriage equality act consistent with these progressive reforms, while protecting religious freedom in our state.   
“As One Maryland we must work together to respect the dignity of every individual.  I remain committed to working with all Marylanders to ensure that rights are protected for equally for everyone.”

Governor, can you tell Del. Pena-Melnyk and (In)Equality Maryland that a trans rights bill without public accommodations language is an affront to the dignity of trans Marylanders, not respecting it?

So what are the peeps at (In)Equality Maryland going to do now that they have plenty of time on their hands to correct that travesty of a trans rights bill percolating through the Maryland legislature?

Stay turned to the next exciting chapter of 'As Maryland TBLG Rights Turns'

New York City Adopts Equal Access Policy For Marriage Licenses For Trans People

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund announced that the city of New York has adopted a new policy that took effect on February 7, 2011 that ensures trans people equal access to marriage licenses.

Transpeople in New York City have had issues interacting with the City Clerk's office when trying to obtain marriage licenses.   There was the highly publicized case of Jason Stenson and transwoman Kimah Nelson who legally obtained a marriage license, were married ten days after doing so on May 26, 2009 but when news broke that Kimah was trans the license was retroactively revoked.

A few months later in December 2009 a trans couple who wishes to remain anonymous tried to get married in the Bronx    According to TLDEF they fulfilled the requirements for receiving a marriage license in New York City and presented their government-issued photo identification – the only identification required by the City Clerk’s office.  Rather than issuing the marriage license, the City Clerk refused and instead demanded that Jane and John produce their birth certificates before they could be married – something not required of other marriage license applicants.

In order to settle legal action, under the terms of the new policy, once a marriage license applicant produces the required photo ID, the City Clerk may not request additional proof of sex.  Moreover, City Clerk employees are forbidden from considering  the applicant's appearance or preconceived notions related to gender expression when deciding whether to issue a marriage license.

The City Clerk also apologized to Jane and John as well and initiated training for all city clerks so that the new policies can be properly implemented.

And thanks to TLDEF for all their work in ensuring fair treatment of transpeople who seek to get married, and Jane and John for being tough minded enough to fight the injustice
.

Joanne Cassar Malta Marriage Case Update

Been continuing to track the developments in the Joanne Cassar case for you TransGriot readers.

To bring y'all up to speed on this case, she's the Maltese transwoman who has been fighting a protracted battle for several years to preserve her marriage rights.  She has won and lost at various levels of the Maltese court system and we celebrated when she got another favorable ruling back in December.    

But alas, the Malta AG decided to appeal Cassar's latest win, so the battle continues.   Cassar has made it clear that she intends to fight this all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France if necessary.

But its been bittersweet for her because the scrutiny from the case broke up her relationship with the man she was going to marry..

In the wake of her legal win, a Maltese MP filed legislation allowing for administrative gender changes. 

The latest news is that Cassar's attorneys Jose Herrera and David Camilleri have filed submission responding to the Malta AG, and referenced the Christine Goodwin vs. UK case in which the European court ruled that the state could not prevent transpeople from getting married.

The decision is supposed to be announced in May.   I would strongly suggest we say our prayers and keep our fingers crossed for Cassar that she wins another round in favor of her marriage rights.