News
Kentucky backs Supreme Court review of marriage ban
Beshear calls for resolution of ‘legal chaos’ after ruling against DOMA
Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Ky.) agrees the Supreme Court should review state bans on same-sex marriage. (Photo public domain)
In a 13-page petition filed on Monday, Leigh Gross Latherow and other lawyers for Beshear say the Supreme Court should resolve the “legal chaos” of courts making different rulings on state marriage bans following the decision last year against the Defense of Marriage Act last year.
“In short, the cases have percolated in the district courts and circuits, but the controversy and extensive litigation continues,” the filing states. “The proceedings throughout the country have created a patchwork of inconsistent decisions resulting in uncertainty and confusion. The Court can provide finality to the legal questions presented in this petition, guidance to the voters and their legislators, and end the legal chaos affecting Kentuckians and all citizens.”
The questions presented to the court in the filing are whether the states may continue to define marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman and whether laws banning same-sex marriage should be reviewed under more than rational basis under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Attorneys write the Kentucky marriage lawsuit would be an “excellent vehicle” for the court to choose because the consolidated case consists of both a lawsuit seeking recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages, Bourke v. Beshear, and a lawsuit seeking the right for same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses in Kentucky, Love v. Beshear.
Beshear, a Democrat, is handling defense of Kentucky’s ban on same-sex marriage in court because Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, another Democrat, said in March he’s unable to defend the ban because he believe it’s unconstitutional. Although the governor has been defending the law, at no point in the filing does he insist the Supreme Court should uphold bans on same-sex marriage; the reasoning for supporting review is to “provide finality” on the marriage issue.
The petition responds to a request from plaintiff same-sex couples in the lawsuit who last month filed a writ for certiorari asking the Supreme Court to review a decision from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The filing from Kentucky plaintiffs is one of five before the Supreme Court from attorneys for same-sex couples seeking review of state bans on same-sex marriage and a nationwide ruling in favor of marriage equality. Others petitions are from couples in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Louisiana.
In Michigan and Louisiana, state officials have also responded they back the idea of Supreme Court review of bans on same-sex marriage. But state officials defending bans on same-sex marriage in Ohio and Tennessee have yet to respond. Their deadline is Dec. 15.
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
The Vatican
Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave
Marianne Duddy-Burke met Pope Francis in 2023
The executive director of a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics will travel to Rome next week for the papal conclave that starts on May 7.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke on Thursday told the Washington Blade she will arrive in Rome on May 6. Duddy-Burke said she plans to spend time in St. Peter’s Square “and have conversations with people.”
“I will wear Dignity insignia, have rainbow flags,” she said.
Pope Francis died on April 21. His funeral took place five days later.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.
Duddy-Burke and two others from the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics met with Francis in October 2023 during a meeting that focused on the Catholic Church’s future. Duddy-Burke noted Francis “invited” her and her colleagues as his “special guests for the audience and then had a conversation with him afterwards.”
“For me the sort of visibility that he (Francis) brought to our community and to our concerns feels irreversible,” said Duddy-Burke. “He empowered so many people and so many new ministries.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu — the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo who has described homosexuality as an “abomination” — is among the cardinals who are reportedly in the running to succeed Francis.
“I really don’t know,” said Duddy-Burke when the Blade asked her who the next pope will be. “Of course, I am hoping and praying hard that it will be someone who will continue to lead the church on responsiveness of human need and greater inclusivity.”
“What happens in that room is such a mystery,” she added.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
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