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4th Circuit tosses challenge to N.C. anti-gay marriage law

Measure allows magistrates to opt out of performing ceremonies

Published

8 years ago

on

same-sex marriage, gay news, Washington Blade
same-sex marriage, gay news, Washington Blade

The Fourth Circuit has thrown out a challenge to an anti-gay marriage law.

The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out on Wednesday a lawsuit challenging a state law allowing state magistrates to opt out of performing same-sex marriages for religious reasons, citing a lack of standing by plaintiffs in the litigation.

Writing for the three-judge panel, U.S. Circuit Judge James Harvie Wilkinson III determined plaintiffs in the lawsuit — couples who assert the law amounts to spending public funds in the aid of religion — have no standing to press a claim against Senate Bill 2.

“Plaintiffs concede that the state has not impeded or restricted their opportunity to get married,” Wilkinson said. “One same-sex couple married in 2014, another same-sex couple is engaged to be married, and the last pair of plaintiffs, an interracial couple, married in 1976. Nonetheless, they contend that their status as North Carolina taxpayers affords them standing to challenge SB2. Because plaintiffs’ claim does not fall within the narrow exception to the general bar against taxpayer standing, their suit must be dismissed.”

Joining Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, in the 18-page decision was U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Keenan, an Obama appointee, and U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanie Thacker, another Obama appointee.

The couples — aided by the Campaign for Southern Equality and the Charlotte-based law firm Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, sued North Carolina in December 2016 on the basis the law violates the Establishment Clause under the First Amendment and rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

But U.S. District Judge Max Coburn in September ruled the couples lacked any claim to standing under both of those arguments in challenging the law, throwing out the case. Although the plaintiff sought an appeal of the dismissal based on the Establishment Clause claims, the 4th Circuit issued a ruling upholding the lower court decision throwing out the case.

Luke Largess, a partner at Tin Fulton Walker & Owen and lead counsel the case, said his team his reviewing the decision and has not made a decision about the next action in the case.

“We are reviewing the court’s opinion published this morning and will make a decision about whether to pursue any further appeals, either to the full 4th Circuit or to the Supreme Court,” Largess said.

The plaintiffs in the case consist of Kay Diane Ansley and Catherine McGaughey, a same-sex couple who married in October as a result of courts overturning North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage; Carol Ann Person and Thomas Roger Person, an interracial different-sex couple denied a wedding in 1976, but able to obtain one in 1978 after winning a lawsuit; and Kelley Penn and Sonja Goodman, a same-sex couple in Swain County and who were engage to marry.

Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, maintained SB2 is discrimination regardless of the 4th Circuit decision.

“SB2 is unjust and distorts the true meaning of religious freedom,” Beach-Ferrara said. “From day one, it’s been clear that SB2 is about one thing – finding a new way to discriminate against same-sex couples and privileging one set of religious beliefs over others. We will keep standing up to discrimination until LGBTQ North Carolinians are equal in every sphere of life.”

The law allows a magistrate in North Carolina to opt out of performing same-sex marriages. However, a magistrate who obtains an exemption can perform no marriages whatsoever for a six-month period. At the end of that period, magistrates can renew their request for an exemption that would last another six months.

SB2 requires at least one magistrate who can perform marriages to be present within a county office at least 10 hours per week, over at least three business days per week.

According to the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, the state has 31 magistrates who currently aren’t performing marriages.

The North Carolina Legislature approved SB2 two years ago amid a series of court rulings in favor of marriage equality. Ironically, former Gov. Pat McCrory, who became infamous for signing anti-LGBT House Bill 2, vetoed the measure on the basis it defied court rulings for marriage equality. The legislature overrode his veto shortly afterward.

Among the friends-of-the-court supporting the state in litigation were the North Carolina Values Coalition, the Thomas More Law Center, the Christian Legal Society and the National Association of Evangelicals.

Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the North Carolina Values Coalition, applauded the 4th Circuit decision in a statement as win for religious freedom.

“The NC Values Coalition applauds the 4th Circuit’s ruling upholding North Carolina’s magistrate recusal law, which simply recognizes that every citizen, even government employees, has the right to exercise their religious beliefs about marriage,” Fitzgerald said. “The court rightly held that taxpayers have not been harmed by the law, and that the law accommodates the rights of magistrates and registers of deeds to exercise conscientious objection to same-sex marriages by recusing themselves, while also insuring that same-sex couples have the ability to get married.”

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Eswatini

PEPFAR delivers first doses of groundbreaking HIV prevention drug to two African countries

Lenacapavir now available in Eswatini and Zambia.

Published

9 hours ago

on

November 19, 2025

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World AIDS Day 2023 at the White House. PEPFAR has distributed the first doses of lenacapavir to the African countries of Eswatini and Zambia. (Washington Blade Photo by Michael Key)

The State Department on Tuesday announced PEPFAR has delivered the first doses of a groundbreaking HIV prevention drug to two African countries.

The lenacapavir doses arrived in Eswatini and Zambia.

The State Department in September unveiled an initiative with Gilead Sciences to bring lenacapavir “to market in high-burden HIV countries.”

Lenacapavir users inject the drug twice a year.

The State Department in its September announcement noted everyone who participated in Gilead’s clinical trials remained HIV negative. It also said lenacapavir “has the potential to be particularly helpful for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, as it safely protects them during and after pregnancy to prevent mother-to-child transmission.”

“In our new America First Global Health Strategy, the Department of State is establishing a first-of-its-kind innovation fund to support American-led research, market-shaping, and other dynamic advancements in global health,” said PEPFAR on Tuesday in a press release.

“The arrivals of the first doses of lenacapavir in Eswatini and Zambia mark an important milestone in HIV prevention and reflect our commitment to supporting communities with the greatest need,” added Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day. “For the first time, a new HIV medicine is reaching communities in sub-Saharan Africa in the same year as its U.S. approval.”

The September announcement came against the backdrop of widespread criticism over the Trump-Vance administration’s reported plans to not fully fund PEPFAR and to cut domestic HIV/AIDS funding. The Washington Blade has previously reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to curtail services or even close because of U.S. funding cuts.

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National

213 House members ask Speaker Johnson to condemn anti-trans rhetoric

Letter cites ‘demonizing and dehumanizing’ language

Published

1 day ago

on

November 18, 2025

By

Rep. Sarah McBride is the first signatory to the letter asking Speaker Johnson to condemn anti-trans rhetoric. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Congressional Equality Caucus has sent a letter urging Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to condemn the surge in anti-trans rhetoric coming from members of Congress.

The letter, signed by 213 members, criticizes Johnson for permitting some lawmakers to use “demonizing and dehumanizing” language directed at the transgender community.

The first signature on the letter is Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware, the only transgender member of Congress.

It also includes signatures from Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05), House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (CA-33), every member of the Congressional Equality Caucus, and members of every major House Democratic ideological caucus.

Some House Republicans have used slurs to address members of the transgender community during official business, including in committee hearings and on the House floor.

The House has strict rules governing proper language—rules the letter directly cites—while noting that no corrective action was taken by the Chair or Speaker Pro Tempore when these violations occurred.

The letter also calls out members of Congress—though none by name—for inappropriate comments, including calls to institutionalize all transgender people, references to transgender people as mentally ill, and false claims portraying them as inherently violent or as a national security threat.

Citing FBI data, the letter notes that 463 hate crime incidents were reported due to gender identity bias. It also references a 2023 Williams Institute report showing that transgender people are more than four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization, despite making up less than 2% of the U.S. population.

The letter ends with a renewed plea for Speaker Johnson to take appropriate measures to protect not only the trans member of Congress from harassment, but also transgender people across the country.

“We urge you to condemn the rise in dehumanizing rhetoric targeting the transgender community and to ensure members of your conference are abiding by rules of decorum and not using their platforms to demonize and scapegoat the transgender community, including by ensuring members are not using slurs to refer to the transgender community.”

The full letter, including the complete list of signatories, can be found at equality.house.gov. (https://equality.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/equality.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/letter-to-speaker-johnson-on-anti-transgender-rhetoric-enforcing-rules-of-decorum.pdf) 

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The White House

EXCLUSIVE: Garcia, Markey reintroduce bill to require US promotes LGBTQ rights abroad

International Human Rights Defense Act also calls for permanent special envoy

Published

2 days ago

on

November 17, 2025

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The U.S. Embassy in El Salvador marks Pride in 2023. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy of El Salvador's Facebook page.)

Two lawmakers on Monday have reintroduced a bill that would require the State Department to promote LGBTQ rights abroad.

A press release notes the International Human Rights Defense Act that U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) introduced would “direct” the State Department “to monitor and respond to violence against LGBTQ+ people worldwide, while creating a comprehensive plan to combat discrimination, criminalization, and hate-motivated attacks against LGBTQ+ communities” and “formally establish a special envoy to coordinate LGBTQ+ policies across the State Department.”

 “LGBTQ+ people here at home and around the world continue to face escalating violence, discrimination, and rollbacks of their rights, and we must act now,” said Garcia in the press release. “This bill will stand up for LGBTQ+ communities at home and abroad, and show the world that our nation can be a leader when it comes to protecting dignity and human rights once again.”

Markey, Garcia, and U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) in 2023 introduced the International Human Rights Defense Act. Markey and former California Congressman Alan Lowenthal in 2019 sponsored the same bill.

The promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights was a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris administration’s overall foreign policy.

The global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement since the Trump-Vance administration froze nearly all U.S. foreign aid has lost more than an estimated $50 million in funding.

The U.S. Agency for International Development, which funded dozens of advocacy groups around the world, officially shut down on July 1. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this year said the State Department would administer the remaining 17 percent of USAID contracts that had not been cancelled.

Then-President Joe Biden in 2021 named Jessica Stern — the former executive director of Outright International — as his administration’s special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights.

The Trump-Vance White House has not named anyone to the position.

Stern, who co-founded the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice after she left the government, is among those who sharply criticized the removal of LGBTQ- and intersex-specific references from the State Department’s 2024 human rights report.

“It is deliberate erasure,” said Stern in August after the State Department released the report.

The Congressional Equality Caucus in a Sept. 9 letter to Rubio urged the State Department to once again include LGBTQ and intersex people in their annual human rights reports. Garcia, U.S. Reps. Julie Johnson (D-Texas), and Sarah McBride (D-Del.), who chair the group’s International LGBTQI+ Rights Task Force, spearheaded the letter.

“We must recommit the United States to the defense of human rights and the promotion of equality and justice around the world,” said Markey in response to the International Human Rights Defense Act that he and Garcia introduced. “It is as important as ever that we stand up and protect LGBTQ+ individuals from the Trump administration’s cruel attempts to further marginalize this community. I will continue to fight alongside LGBTQ+ individuals for a world that recognizes that LGBTQ+ rights are human rights.”

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