Pa. gay couple marries as Montgomery County defies state ban

[MadrasT]

Pa. gay couple marries as Montgomery County defies state ban

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - July 24, 2013 (WPVI) -- At least five same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses Wednesday in a suburban Philadelphia county that is defying a state ban on such unions.

Alicia Terrizzi and Loreen Bloodgood, of Pottstown, were the only couple to marry right away, exchanging vows in a park before a minister and their two young sons.

"We're not setting out to be pioneers. We don't think our family is any different than anybody else," said Terrizzi, a 45-year-old teacher. "We've been waiting a long time for this."

The licenses issued Wednesday in Montgomery County are believed to be the first to same-sex couples in Pennsylvania, the only northeastern state without same-sex marriages or civil unions.

More at link: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9183134

"The licenses were issued a day after the county's Register of Wills, D. Bruce Hanes, said he would grant them to gay couples because he wanted to come down 'on the right side of history and the law.'"



Normally I wouldn't be keen on a county official overriding a state law but I cheer this decision by Mr. Hanes.

(And I hope wingnut heads are exploding all over the vast redneck sections of the state.)

[Aerows]

1. Good for this judge

and great for the couples that got equality!

[ShadowLiberal]

2. There's no judge involved, yet

This is officials in Montgomery country deciding on their own to give out marriage license to gay couples. Apparently the workers already have a defense ready for court, citing a few sections of PA's state constitution about protecting individual's freedom and civil rights, and another section barring discrimination by sex.

I'm proud to say that I live in Montgomery country in PA. Our part of the state used to be ruled by Republicans for over 100 years, until the last half decade. I believe almost 100% of the judges here are still Republicans though (they're all elected positions).

I'm shocked this has gotten almost zero national attention, I only just heard about it today. This could well be the beginning of the end of gay marriage bans in PA. Republican judges who are generally very conservative on almost everything else have ruled in favor of gay marriage before.

Plus, while PA's State Supreme Court does have a Republican majority (by 1), one of those Republican judges is a moderate who voted to put the state's Voter ID law on hold. I could definitely see him voting to overturn PA's gay marriage ban if the right case came before him.

[MadrasT]

3. Hi neighbor!

(waves from Chester County)

[MadrasT]

4. Update: Montco now ground zero for Pa. marriage debate

Those county officials decided to issue licenses, more than a few, in contravention of the law in Pennsylvania.

With the license request and the granting of that request, both officials and couples put themselves squarely in the spotlight of a national debate on same-sex marriage, a debate which became all the more serious last month after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.

It’s a position that resonated with D. Bruce Hanes, Montgomery County’s register of wills. Last week, Hanes issued a marriage license to two women from Limerick, and he became a sudden, and unexpected media “get.” He spent the evening after he issued Pennsylvania’s first same-sex marriage license on the air with MSNBC talks show host Rachel Maddow .

“Look, I took an oath and swore to uphold the Constitution,” Hanes said, “and to me that law stands in direct opposition to the guarantee of equal rights. Being married is a civil right and the Pennsylvania Constitution says I cannot discriminate in who I provide licenses to.”

Link: http://www.dailylocal.com/article/20130729/NEWS01/130729699/montco-now-ground-zero-for-pa-marriage-debate#full_story