Gay Marriage

Relationship Recognition: Ends, Means, and the Path Ahead

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We’re here at the National LGBT Bar Association’s Annual Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference, attending a great panel about relationship recognition (aka marriage equality aka same-sex marriage).

You can access the liveblog after the jump.

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Lawyer of the Gay, Er, Day: Ken Mehlman

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Ken Mehlman: Yup, he's gay.

Back in June, we wrote about the fabulous Chelsea apartment snapped up by prominent Republican lawyer Ken Mehlman. Although his résumé is strewn with achievements — he’s a 1991 graduate of Harvard Law School (just like President Obama), a former partner at Akin Gump, and a current executive vice-president at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (ka-ching!) — Mehlman is most well-known as former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Because Mehlman settled in Chelsea — and took up residence in the Chelsea Mercantile building, home to such A-list gays as Marc Jacobs and Lance Bass — we couldn’t resist a little innuendo. Despite his status as a leading official of the Republican Party, which hasn’t always been down with the gays, Mehlman has long been dogged by rumors that he is a homosexual.

Now we don’t have to worry about Mehlman suing us for defamation — and litigating the interesting issue of whether calling someone a big old nelly queen constitutes defamation per se in New York. Mehlman just publicly admitted that he’s gay, in an interview with Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic. (The publication of the interview may have been accelerated, thanks to a nudge from Mike Rogers of BlogActive.)

Let’s take a closer look at the pink elephant in the room….

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Breaking: Ninth Circuit Issues Stay Pending Appeal in Prop 8 Case, Schedules Oral Arguments for December

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Judge Sidney Thomas

The three-judge motions panel — consisting of Judges Edward Leavy, Michael Daly Hawkins, and Sidney Thomas — has issued a stay pending appeal in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case in which Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.) struck down Proposition 8′s ban on gay marriage in California.

More about the ruling and a link to the order, after the jump.

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Quote of the Day: The (Fabulous!) Silver Lining to Delayed Gay Marriage

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We’re excited, but we’re also sad. At least we’ll have a little more time to prepare and dress up.

– Ryan Dooley, a 24-year-old Latin teacher in California, upon learning that he’ll have to wait longer to marry his fiancé.

Breaking: Judge Walker Won’t Stay Prop 8 Ruling Pending Appeal!

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Chief Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.), who struck down Proposition 8′s ban on gay marriage in California, has denied a motion to stay his judgment pending appeal. This means that same-sex marriages in California can start immediately after August 18 at 5 PM, assuming the Ninth Circuit doesn’t grant a stay.

UPDATE (3:45 PM): No immediate gay weddings — see court order below (after the jump). Judge Walker denied a full stay pending appeal, but he did enter a stay of his judgment until August 18, 2010, at 5 PM PDT. This will give Prop 8 proponents time to appeal to the Ninth Circuit…

UPDATE (4:25 PM): Do they have standing to defend Prop 8 on the merits in the appellate court? There is a rub here. Read more after the jump.

A link to the court order and excerpts, after the jump.

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A Friday Present for You: A Hyperlinked Copy of the Prop 8 Ruling

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The biggest legal news story of the past week — even bigger than the confirmation of Elena Kagan, which was widely expected — was the ruling of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.) in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Judge Walker struck down California’s Proposition 8, a voter-passed ban on gay marriage, citing due process and equal protection grounds.

The decision was popular with Above the Law readers. In our poll, about 80 percent of you expressed support. But how many of you have actually read the entire 136-page ruling? If you’re looking for some fun this weekend, curl up with our special ATL edition of the opinion.

We’ve uploaded a version of the decision in fully hyperlinked form, i.e., with links to the authorities cited by Judge Walker. It’s available below….

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Quote of the Day: But What Does Justice KENNEDY Think of BUBBLE DREAMS?

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At the moments notice of PROP 8 DEATH I instantly began to write music. BUBBLE DREAMS FOREVER! FULL EQUALITY! THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!

REJOICE and CELEBRATE gay communities and straight all over the world. Our voices are being heard! Loud! SCREAM LOUD AMERICANOS!

– Lady Gaga, responding on Twitter to Chief Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

Gay People: Are You Sure You Want to Get Married?

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How is everybody doing this day after bigotry was dealt a setback? Based on an Above the Law reader poll, about 80 percent of you think that Chief Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.) did the right thing when he struck down California’s Proposition 8.

So gay people in California may soon be able to engage in the lovely “sh** or get off the pot” conversation that dominates the life of every guy who has been dating the same girl for more than a couple of years. Yay, congratulations!

But are gays and lesbians really sure they want marriage equality? After the cake, the reception, and the honeymoon, there are a bunch of… obligations that attach to marriage. Just look at New York. We don’t even have gay marriage here, and yet same-sex partners will find themselves on the hook for all sorts of things…

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Breaking: Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional!!!

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Today Chief Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.) issued his ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage. The case was famously brought by Ted Olson and David Boies, two of the nation’s top lawyers (who previously faced off in Bush v. Gore, on opposite sides of the case). We first learned of the news at 4:35 PM today (via Chris Rovzar of New York magazine).

In his 136-page ruling, Chief Judge Walker — a Bush I appointee to the federal bench who is generally viewed as a moderate, not some crazy San Francisco liberal — ruled that Prop 8 is “unconstitutional under both the due process and equal protection clauses.” Accordingly, he “order[ed] entry of judgment permanently enjoining its enforcement.”

A permanent injunction? Expect Prop 8 proponents to turn to a higher court in 3, 2, 1…. But is the famously left-leaning Ninth Circuit going to be much help?

For excerpts from the opinion and more links, see below….

UPDATE: This post has been revised extensively since it was first published.

Note especially the update near the end of this post regarding Judge Walker’s STAYING THE ENTRY OF JUDGMENT.

We have also added a READER POLL, after the jump.

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Morning Docket: 08.04.10

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* Today Judge Vaughn Walker will issue his ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the constitutional challenge to the Prop 8 gay marriage ban in California. Lawyer/journalist Chris Geidner has this great FAQ about it. [Metro Weekly]

* A bankruptcy examiner’s report brings mostly good news for lawyers at Brown Rudnick, who had been accused of improperly redacting a complaint. [Am Law Daily]

* Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who’s 77, wants to stay on the Court until she’s at least 82 (the age at which Justice Louis Brandeis retired). [Associated Press via How Appealing]

* Meanwhile, RBG’s future colleague moves one step closer to confirmation: Senate floor debate on the Kagan nomination is even more predictable and unexciting than the Kagan hearings. [New York Times]

* Note to bloggers: avoid using material from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, or you could find yourself getting sued by a “copyright troll.” (Fellow blogger Marc Randazza is quoted extensively.) [Las Vegas Sun via ABA Journal]

Morning Docket: 07.15.10

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* JPMorgan Chase kicks off earning season with strong numbers. You wonder if this will give Jamie Dimon even more clout has he lobbies on the financial reform bill. [CNN Money]

* Argentina legalizes gay marriage. [New York Times]

* Hogan Lovells partner Scott McInnis admits he committed plagiarism in 1984. He’d still like to be Governor of Colorado, though. [ABA Journal]

* Some states are banding together to support Arizona. [Courthouse News Service]

* I bet looking under the hood at the Playboy financials isn’t nearly as fun as it sounds. [Law.com]

Biglaw Perk Watch: A Follow-Up on Google’s Gay Gross-Up

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If you’re a gay employee and have a domestic partner who receives health benefits through your employer, you have to pay more in federal income tax — about $1,000 a year, on average. This is because federal law, thanks to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages. As a result, the feds treat employer-provided health benefits for domestic partners as a form of taxable income (if the partner is not considered a dependent).

(Note, however, that this could change. A federal judge in Boston recently struck down part of DOMA. Stay tuned to find out what happens on appeal.)

Earlier this month, we wrote about a perk that Google extends to its gay employees who find themselves in this situation. As reported by the New York Times, Google “essentially [covers] those costs, putting same-sex couples on an even footing with heterosexual employees whose spouses and families receive health benefits.” Google makes an extra payment to gay employees to make up for the increased tax burden — a perk that we dubbed “Google’s gay gross-up.”

We asked you, our readers, if any legal employers also offer this benefit. As it turns out, several do.

Find out which employers provide this perk — and vote in a poll on its fairness, which was hotly debated in the comments to our prior post — after the jump.

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