Alabama has officially become US state #37 with marriage equality, but it’s the one where it’s being fought out the most. Like in many other states in the past few months, a federal district judge ruled Alabama’s constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage to be in violation of the US Constitution, and therefore struck it down.
The ruling was condemned by the state’s Republican governor and attorney general, who filed an appeal, but their requests for a hold were not heeded by either the Appeals Court nor the US Supreme Court and so marriage equality began this past Monday.
However, the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court ordered the probate judges not to obey the ruling and to refuse to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples!! The nerve.
Not all have followed his orders fortunately, and marriage equality spread through the state, but in many counties judges are refusing to issue licenses to same-sex couples or to all couples, just to avoid being called homophobic bigots. Well, guess what, you’re homophobic bigots and you’re breaking the law. I hope they get reprimanded, fined, and even jailed if they keep this up for long.
Anyway, welcome Alabama!!
And this is what the marriage equality map looks like right now:
Link.
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