Five ways people of faith have led LGBTQ advocacy efforts since the 1969 Stonewall riots

  June 28 marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, often deemed as the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ rights movement. On June 28, 1969, police raided New York City’s Stonewall Inn, a bar and gathering space for members of the LGBTQ community. Riots ensued between the police and LGBTQ patrons and passersby, led by transgender women of color including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Despite high-profile examples of faith-based opposition to LGBTQ rights since the riots, these anti-equality viewpoints do not reflect the attitudes of all faith communities. Faith leaders and religious communities have also played a key role in the LGBTQ rights movement.

Federal judge: Alabama must recognize marriage equality ruling

  A federal judge ruled this week that Alabama officials must abide by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage despite contrary statements by the Alabama Supreme Court– a victory for the Southern Poverty Law Center and other civil rights groups that fought to secure marriage equality in the state.

  The permanent injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Callie V. Granade, which applies to the attorney general and all probate judges in Alabama, mandates that state officials issue same-sex marriage licenses and recognize such marriages in accordance with the high court’s ruling last year. The district court’s ruling comes after the Alabama Supreme Court refused to withdraw an order earlier this year that said the state was not bound by a federal court decision that struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban months before the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling in June 2015.

Charles C. Haynes: After gay marriage, can we move from battleground to common ground?

  In recent years, religious freedom — or, more precisely, religious freedom claims — have been front and center in the battle over same-sex marriage.

  From bitter debates in Arizona and Indiana to the grand compromise in Utah, proponents and opponents have shouted past one another about if and when to grant exemptions for conscientious objectors to same-sex marriage.

  The Supreme Court’s decision on June 26 in Obergefell v. Hodges recognizing gay marriage as a constitutional right will not end this debate. But it might, just might, move people of goodwill on both sides from battleground to common ground on how best to balance competing visions of equality and liberty.

Richard Cohen: Either comply or resign else you're just being arrogant

  Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that bans on same-sex marriages are unconstitutional, we've seen many Alabama probate judges – including Steven Reed in Montgomery, Alan King in Jefferson County, and Don Davis in Mobile – say that they'll comply with the law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

  But some Alabama probate judges say that they'll get out of the marriage business altogether.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Marriage equality - it's all over by the shouting

  This has been an eventful year. Thousands of tourists have flocked to Alabama to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March for Civil and Voting Rights. The events that happened in Alabama spurred the enactment of the landmark acts that broke down the legal barriers prohibiting African Americans from voting in the South.

  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it unlawful to discriminate based on race. It was followed up the next year with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that assured African Americans the right to vote.

Billy Corriher: Judicial elections make it impossible for Alabama judges to protect individual rights

  Alabama is the only state where the high court has defied a federal court to offer marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It is also the only state in which judges frequently override jury verdicts of life imprisonment to impose death sentences on convicts. It has become increasingly clear that what is happening in Alabama is the direct result of judicial elections.

  With the exception of Bolivia, the United States is the only other country in the world that elects its judges. This system ensures that judges are accountable to their constituents, but it also means that judges will face political pressure to rule in ways that please a majority of voters. A recent poll showed that only 32 percent of Alabama’s population supports marriage equality, and the state’s residents ardently support the death penalty. Alabama judges are keenly aware of these facts.

Charles C. Haynes: LGBT rights, religious freedom and the Utah miracle

  Whatever your faith or sexual orientation, what happened in Utah on March 12 should make you proud to be an American.

  That’s the day Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed into law groundbreaking legislation – Senate Bill 296 – protecting LGBT people from discrimination in housing and employment while also providing exemptions for religious institutions and protections for religious speech.

Human rights groups ask federal court to order Alabama probate judges to issue same-sex marriage licenses

  The Southern Poverty Law Center and a group of leading civil rights organizations yesterday asked a federal court to expand a lawsuit challenging Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage and to order all of the state’s probate judges to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

  The action comes amid a confrontation between the Alabama Supreme Court and the federal judiciary.

Anti-LGBT rally in Montgomery draws strong rhetoric and the League of the South

  Sanctity of Marriage-Alabama held another rally against marriage equality Saturday on the steps of the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery. The rally featured several speakers who not only decried the January federal court ruling that struck down Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage, but also homosexuality in general. This is the second rally the group has held this month (the first was Feb. 7) and the second time that theocrat John Eidsmoe was a speaker. He was the keynote speaker at the first.

  Eidsmoe is listed as “senior counsel and resident scholar” at the Foundation for Moral Law (FML) a Montgomery-based organization founded in 2002. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was president of the FML until he stepped down in 2013 to run for the position he now holds. His wife Kayla Moore is currently the president.

Keegan Hankes: Klan group issues ‘Call To Arms’ over Alabama same-sex marriage ruling

  In an attempt to capitalize on political and racial controversy, a Ku Klux Klan faction from Mississippi has initiated a “call to arms in Alabama” in response to a federal court ruling that an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

  The post, which appeared on the United Dixie White Knights’ (UDWK) website and later on Stormfront — the largest online white supremacist forum — championed Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore for defying federal courts and called for Klansmen to leave their robes behind and take to the streets in protest.

Alabama recognizes Paul Hard as surviving spouse on husband’s death certificate

  On the same historic day same-sex couples in Alabama were allowed to marry, Southern Poverty Law Center client Paul Hard finally received an amended death certificate recognizing him as his husband’s surviving spouse – a recognition that came nearly four years after his husband died in a car crash.

Photo by by Valerie Downes, SPLC

  “It’s a good day,” Hard said, clasping the certificate in his hand. “It’s bittersweet. Today my home state recognizes our marriage. I put my wedding ring with David [Fancher] back on today in anticipation of this moment. I have been waiting for this recognition from the state, but sadly this had to come after his death.”

Joseph O. Patton: Probate judges jump on the bigotry bandwagon

  As Alabama's clock ticks down to the opening day of marriage equality Monday, probate judges across the state - perhaps to pander, perhaps because they're simply hateful - are opting to no longer offer marriage officiating at county probate offices. Though offering such a service isn't required by law, it has been a given, a long-standing tradition and something routinely offered throughout the state.

  But rather than serve their fellow taxpaying Alabamians (the same individuals who pay their salaries) - in this case same-sex couples who will finally be able to be treated like full citizens of these United States - a number of the state's county probate judges are abruptly abolishing this service in order to avoid having to conduct same-sex wedding ceremonies. It's the equivalent of a bratty, snot-nosed loser on the ball field taking his ball and going home because he just had his ass handed to him in a little league game.

Montgomery's Lattice Inn offering Marriage Equality Package

  With the advent of marriage equality in Alabama, The Lattice Inn of Montgomery is announcing a unique wedding package for couples starting as soon as the courts’ rulings are finalized.

  “We’ve always supported marriage equality and are happy to offer The Lattice Inn as a venue for any couple who wants to solemnize their relationship,” said Innkeeper Jim Yeaman.

Decision overturning Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban a victory for families, children of same-sex couples

  A federal judge’s ruling striking down Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional will provide greater stability to the lives of same-sex couples and their children, but more work remains to eliminate anti-LGBT discrimination in the state, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced yesterday.

  The judge in Mobile, Alabama, issued the ruling Friday in a case brought by two women seeking to have their marriage from California recognized. Cari Searcy and Kim McKeand needed the recognition so that both women could be recognized as legal parents of the child they conceived with the help of a sperm donor.

Richard Cohen: A tent too large: the Republican Party and anti-LGBT bigotry

  Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus this week said something predictable and something startling in response to the Supreme Court’s refusal to overturn court decisions clearing the way for same-sex marriage.

  The predictable was his continued defense of the Republican Party’s position that marriage should be limited to a man and a woman.

Sally Steenland: So-called ‘cultural war’ issues are really about justice

  What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, the so-called “culture war” issues—especially abortion and same-sex marriage—were a boon to conservatives in terms of fundraising and energizing their base to go to the polls. Liberals and progressives, on the other hand, saw these issues as toxic and tried to avoid talking about them if at all possible.

Charles C. Haynes: Gay marriage, religious freedom and the need for civil dialogue

  In recent months, legislators in more than a dozen states — from Hawaii to Georgia — have attempted to enact laws they describe as necessary to protect religious freedom.

  Some are broad "religious freedom restoration acts" very similar to laws already on the books in many states. Others are amendments to existing laws aimed at allowing businesses to deny wedding services to gay couples on religious grounds.

Katie Miller: Four governors are denying military spouses the benefits they have earned

  The repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" in 2010 allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members to serve openly for the first time in American history. And this past summer, the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act, creating a pathway for the military to recognize same-sex couples for the purpose of spousal benefits. As a direct result of the ruling, the Department of Defense instructed military facilities to begin enrolling same-sex spouses of service members in military benefits programs starting September 3, 2013. But a handful of anti-gay, activist governors continue to discriminate against same-sex military spouses by refusing to enroll them in benefits programs at National Guard facilities.

Sally Steenland: Religious liberty + marriage equality = Harmony, not dissension

  Sometimes the way an issue is framed matters as much as the facts. Take the so-called battle between marriage equality and religious liberty. Many activists against marriage equality claim that the two are inherently opposed to each other. According to their argument, if one side wins, the other loses.

  The problem with this oppositional framing is that it isn’t true. In reality, marriage equality and religious liberty can support and strengthen each other. And this is true even when people are conflicted about same-sex marriage. Even then, they still believe that gay and lesbian couples should be treated fairly under the law.

Andrew Cray and Crosby Burns: Two victories for marriage equality at the Supreme Court

  Today the Supreme Court delivered two historic rulings impacting the rights of marriage for same-sex couples.

  In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Supreme Court held that Dennis Hollingsworth, the head of ProtectMarriage.com, did not have the authority to appeal a district court decision striking down California’s Proposition 8. Proposition 8, passed in 2008, stripped thousands of same-sex couples of the right to marry the person they love. Though today’s decision poses a number of questions, it appears that the district court’s order prohibiting the state from enforcing Proposition 8 will stand. This means that marriage equality will once again return to California.