Image from http://www.lgbtqnation.com
Being someone who supports all human, equal rights, it pains me to see that persons who love each other are finally allowed to get married in a state that has been against same-sex marriage for so long and somehow, still can’t.
Same-sex marriage was, at last, legalized in Alabama by a federal judge’s rulings, making it the 37th state to allow same-sex marriage. However, (there’s always a downside, isn’t there?) a lot of the cities in Alabama, at least 52 out of the 67, have been denying same-sex marriage licenses since the law was passed out. Now, everyone has heard of the constant struggle, fight, whatever you want to call it, in Alabama and other southern states and the fact they make well known, that they don’t support same-sex marriage. So, why aren’t some judges approving the licenses?
A quick over view in short sentences of why there’s so much fuss at the moment: On January 23rd, US District Court Judge Callie Granade ‘banished’ the same-sex marriage ban in the state of Alabama. The court meeting about the new law being enforced by approving same-sex licenses by all judges was left until February 9th. However, on the evening of February 8th, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore sent letters to all judges, preventing them from approving same-sex marriage, claiming that Judge Callie didn’t have the power to define what marriage is and, apparently, neither does the supreme courts.
The reports of licenses not being approved or issued started on Monday when same-sex couples showed up at court, expecting to be allowed to wed and instead, had doors and windows closed on them. First of all, rude; VERY rude. It even came down to an ordained minister being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct when she said to a judge that she would be wedding a lesbian couple. Really? I really do not get how human right laws are made. The way I see, it, if it doesn’t hurt anyone in the process of it starting, existing and ending, it’s okay. It’s 2015! We need to stop claiming that persons that “aren’t in the norm” can’t have basic human rights!
There is good news for those same-sex couples in Alabama, although there is a crisis over some parts not allowing them to wed, some cities are: Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville have already approved and wed same sex coupled and plan to keep doing so despite all the court drama going on so, go to those cities, get married and be happy.