February 21, 2014

LGBT Legal Cases Marriage equality Marriage Equality Trials

Exciting news out of Illinois: a federal judge has ruled that same-sex couples in Cook County do not have to wait until June, when the state’s marriage equality law is scheduled to go into effect, to wed, and instead must be allowed to do so immediately. The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Same-sex couples don’t have to wait until June to get married in Cook County under a federal judge’s ruling issued Friday. “There is no reason to delay further when no opposition has been presented to this Court and committed gay and lesbian couples have already suffered from the denial of their fundamental right to marry,” U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman said in her ruling. Cook County Clerk David Orr said his office will issue licenses immediately and couples can get married as soon as Saturday.

Today’s ruling only applies to Cook County–where Chicago is located–but LGBT advocates in the state hope that other county clerks will follow Orr’s lead and allow same-sex couples to wed.

In December, Judge Coleman ordered Illinois to allow same-sex couples in which one individual faces terminal illnesses to wed ahead of the law’s June 2014 effective date.

In a press release, Lambda Legal applauded the judge’s decision and noted her decision’s citation of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King:

“The wait is over! We are thrilled that the court recognized the unfairness of forcing same-sex couples to wait for months to marry,” said Christopher Clark, Counsel for Lambda Legal. “Justice has prevailed and full equality is no longer delayed for Illinoisans who wish to marry in Cook County before June 1st.” In her decision today, Judge Coleman noted that the question before her was “why should we wait.” She cited the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King who noted that “the time is always ripe to do right.”

You can read the judge’s order here. Congratulations to all those who will be marrying in Cook County tomorrow!

UPDATE: 3:15 pm Eastern: BuzzFeed’s Chris Geidner reports that LGBT advocates in Illinois believe the judge’s ruling applies statewide:

Lambda Legal Marriage Project National Director Camilla Taylor told BuzzFeed that the fact that the Illinois ruling Friday was a facial ruling — meaning the judge determined the law was unconstitutional in all circumstances — means that it is applicable statewide.

For more information on Lee v. Orr from The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, click here.

White House questioned over judicial nominee with... Trans women win North Carolina legal challenges...