Reuters reports; the law apparently provides that, Any person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organizations or directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationship in Nigeria commits an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a term of 10 years in prison. The law also “contains […]
Archive | Gay Rights
New Mexico Supreme Court Strikes Down State Law Limiting Marriage to Opposite-Sex Couples
By Ilya Somin on December 19, 2013 8:17 pm in Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage, Sex Discrimination
In today’s decision in Griego v. Oliver, the New Mexico Supreme Court struck down state laws that limit marriage to opposite sex couples. I welcome the result, but would have preferred that the court based its decision on the ground that laws banning same-sex marriage discriminate on the basis of gender. The court ruled that […]
Brown v. Buhman isn’t so complicated
By David Kopel on December 14, 2013 4:35 am in Criminal Law, Fourteenth Amendment, Gay Rights, Privacy, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom, Sexual Conduct Restrictions, Sexual Orientation, Supreme Court, Television
To me, today’s decision of the United States District Court for the District of Utah in Brown v. Buhman is much clearer and carefully-reasoned that Orin finds it to be. There may be plenty of blogging on the case, and Eugene’s analysis next week, after he’s had a chance to analyze it, will provide the perspective […]
Germany’s President May Be Boycotting the Sochi Olympics
German President Joachim Gauck may be boycotting the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in order to protest Russia’s human rights abuses: German President Joachim Gauck will not represent his country at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, his office says. The announcement makes Gauck, a former pastor, the first major political figure to boycott the […]
Religious Liberty and SSM: A Response to Concerns in Illinois
By Dale Carpenter on October 30, 2013 2:14 pm in Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation
The Illinois legislature is considering a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples. In response, a group of religious-liberty scholars have urged the governor and legislative leaders to include what they call a “marriage conscience protection” that would significantly expand the scope of religious exemptions already provided in the bill, and would insert additional substantive exemptions that would […]
How Bigoted Speech Advances Equality
In a splendidly written essay in The Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch makes the case for protecting “hate speech” in the context of a proposed boycott by some gay-rights advocates of the movie Ender’s Game (released Nov. 1). The movie is not itself said to be homophobic but, they urge, it should be boycotted because it is based on a sci-fi novel by […]
Could Doctors’ Public Condemnation of Homosexuality Lead to Medical Board Investigation of Doctors?
Yes, say 60% of the state medical boards respondents surveyed in Greysen et al., Online Professionalism Investigations by State Medical Boards: First, Do No Harm, 158(2) Ann Intern Med. 124-30 (2013). Here’s the vignette that was given in the survey: Discriminatory Speech Online A concerned staff member at a local hospital reports discriminatory language on […]
Two Upcoming Speaking Engagements
By Ilya Somin on September 30, 2013 1:20 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage
Over the next two weeks, I will be doing two out-of-town speaking engagements that may be of interest to some of our readers. On Thursday, October, 3, 12:00-1:15 PM, I will be doing a talk on my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter, at Columbia Law School in Jerome Greene […]
Labor Department Extends ERISA Protections to Same-Sex Spouses
By Dale Carpenter on September 18, 2013 11:04 pm in Beyond DOMA, ERISA, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage
The effect of United States v. Windsor continues to ripple through federal law, expanding by leaps and bounds the rights and protections afforded to same-sex spouses. The effect has been magnified by a friendly federal bureaucracy under the Obama administration, which is widely adopting a place-of-celebration rule for recognizing same-sex marriages under federal laws using […]
Censorship of Pro-Gay Movies in Russia
From the Hollywood Reporter: A Russian television movie channel has been sent an official warning for allegedly airing films that support same-sex relationships. Russia’s federal media oversight body, Roskomnadzor, on Thursday warned popular movie channel EvroKino after it aired 2007 French musical Les Chansons d’Amour (Love Songs). The agency said the film contains “propaganda of […]
Should We Boycott the Sochi Olympics?
Gay rights advocates such as actor Harvey Fierstein are calling for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, over Russia’s highly repressive new law banning “homosexual propaganda,” any speech that equates the social status same-sex relationships with heterosexual ones. Others argue that the West should not boycott the Olympics, but should instead […]
Did the Obama Administration have a Duty to Defend DOMA?
By Ilya Somin on June 30, 2013 5:20 pm in Constitutional Theory, DOMA, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Presidency
I have a somewhat different perspective than co-blogger Todd Zywicki on the Obama administration’s decision not to defend DOMA in court. In my view, the President’s duty to uphold the Constitution supersedes any obligation he might have to defend a federal statute. Therefore, if he sincerely believes that a federal law is unconstitutional, he should […]
Right, Left, and the Standing Issues in the Gay Marriage Cases
Both of today’s gay marriage cases raised complex issues of whether the parties had “standing” to appear in federal court. In the Windsor case striking down Section 3 of DOMA, the Obama Administration’s refusal to defend DOMA led the Bipartisan Legislative Assistance Group, made up of members of Congress, to undertake the task. In Hollingsworth […]
The Impact of Today’s Gay Marriage Decisions
It may be a long time before the effects of today’s gay marriage decisions are fully evident. But it seems clear that they represent important progress for same-sex marriage and gay rights more generally. The DOMA case is also a modest success for those who seek to enforce constitutional limits on federal power. Obviously, the […]
The DOMA Decision and Federalism
Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion for the Court in the DOMA case relies partly on federalism considerations, striking down Section 3 of DOMA in part because it goes beyond the usual scope of federal authority. In reaching this conclusion, it cites (among other sources) the amicus brief submitted by several federalism scholars, including co-bloggers Randy […]