National
Plaintiffs in Virginia marriage lawsuit: We were Goliath
Tony London’s brother died hours before judge issued ruling
From left, Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, lawyer Tom Shuttleworth, Carol Schall, Emily, Mary Townley, Adam Umhoefer, lawyers David Boies and Ted Olson, and plaintiff Tim Bostic (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The two men earlier in the day found out that London’s brother had passed away.
“We were at home in the den waiting to hear about plans so that we could make our trip to Texas,” Bostic told the Washington Blade on Friday, noting he ignored his cell phone when his lawyers called it to let him and London know about Allen’s ruling. “The home phone rang and it was the same number and I was like, that’s really odd. So I picked it up and that was them letting us know the decision had come down.”
Bostic and London – who challenged Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban alongside Carol Schall and Mary Townley of Chesterfield – were among the more than 400 people who gathered at Decorum Furniture in Norfolk on Friday to celebrate Allen’s ruling.
“We are so proud to be proud Virginians,” said Hampton Roads Pride President Laurel Quarberg.
Lieutenant Gov. Ralph Northam also attended the event that Blaine Stewart, an anchor on WKTR, a Norfolk television station, emceed.
“We shouldn’t as a government be telling people who they should and shouldn’t love,” Northam told the Blade. “In 2014 one should be able to love and marry who they want. They should be able to be in the workplace without discrimination and they should be able to raise children as they so choose. It’s a big day for Virginia.”
Same-sex marriage supporters also celebrated Allen’s ruling at a number of gatherings that had been previously scheduled across the state to coincide with Valentine’s Day.
Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille joined a rally for marriage equality at the Alexandria City Courthouse on Valentine’s Day. Couples proceeded from the rally into the courthouse to request a marriage license, but were denied due to state law. The rally in Alexandria was one of several held throughout the state. (Washington Blade photo by Damien Salas)
More than a dozen people unfurled a rainbow banner outside the Virginia Beach Circuit Court before two couples sought to apply for marriage licenses. They included Teresa C. Phillips and Joyce Ann Davis of Chesapeake, who married last October in Delaware on their 33rd anniversary.
Phillips, who spent more than two decades in the U.S. Army, told the Blade as she and Davis walked to the courthouse that the Pentagon gave her spouse an identification card allowing her to receive benefits after they tied the knot in Delaware. Phillips said she and Davis were “elated” to hear Allen’s ruling, but acknowledged “we still have a long way to go” before she and other gays and lesbians can marry in the commonwealth.
“I want to get married in Virginia,” Phillips told the Blade.
Attorney General Mark Herring, who announced last month he would not defend the marriage amendment in court, described Allen’s 41-page decision as “a victory for the Constitution and for treating everyone equally under the law.” Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish and gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) are among those also applauded the decision.
The Family Foundation of Virginia, the National Organization for Marriage, House Speaker Bill Howell (R-Stafford County) and state Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William County) and others criticized the ruling – and Herring in particular for not defending the marriage amendment that Virginia voters in 2006 approved by a 57-43 percent margin.
“She opened her order before the word other with a rather poetic quote,” former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told Bruce DePuyt of News Channel 8 on Friday, referring to Allen’s decision to begin her ruling with a quote from Mildred Loving on the 40th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Virginia’s interracial marriage ban. “It rather undermined her objectivity. She clearly had a view coming in. We expect judges to look at these things more objectively.”
Schall and Townley, whose daughter Emily just turned 16, have also faced questions from same-sex marriage opponents about whether gay couples should raise children.
“Now we know that most of America doesn’t agree with the view of those few,” London told the Blade. “Those few still have the right to make any kind of statement that they want to however they want to as long as its within the boundaries of the law. We’re perfectly happy to see them come up there because we know there is no argument, there’s just no argument at all.”
Bostic added he felt sorry for the lawyers who were defending the marriage amendment during the Feb. 4 oral arguments in their case.
Allen stayed her ruling, pending the outcome of an appeal.
“It felt like David and Goliath… except this time we were Goliath,” he said. “We were expecting less support and more opposition from the get go. I do believe in Virginians, but it was just this idea all of a sudden there were more people on our side than we were hearing negative. It’s a good feeling.”
As Bostic and London spoke with this reporter at Decorum Furniture in Norfolk, a woman whose girlfriend of 16 years passed away two weeks ago thanked the men for filing their lawsuit against the marriage amendment.
“What you guys did was great,” she said.
“That is why we’re doing this,” London told the Blade after the woman spoke with him and Bostic. “16 years and they have nothing left. They have no rights in this state at all. Whatever they built together is gone.”
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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