Guam AG directs same-sex marriage licenses be issued

Cameron Miculka and Amanda Francel Blas | Pacific (Guam) Daily News

HAGATNA, Guam — Guam's attorney general said she is directing the island's public health department to immediately start issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples.

"The department is advised to treat all same gender marriage applicants with dignity and equality under the Constitution of our nation, and the ruling of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals," Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson said in a legal memorandum to Public Health's acting Director Leo Casil.

Her decision was based on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' Oct. 7, 2014, decision, according to the memo.

That decision made Guam's marriage law unenforceable until a U.S. Supreme Court decision, she said.

"While the (Public Health) Department was acting in accordance with Guam law, the Ninth Circuit's recent decision has rendered Guam's marriage statute legally unenforceable until such time that the Supreme Court of the United States alters the holding of the Ninth Circuit of Appeals," she stated in the memo.

The AG's legal memo was spurred by a federal lawsuit challenging Guam's ban on same-sex marriage.

The case was filed Monday by lawyers representing Kathleen M. Aguero and Loretta M. Pangelinan, two Guam women seeking to get married locally. It names Gov. Eddie Calvo and the Office of Vital Statistics registrar as defendants.

Todd Thompson, an attorney for the gay couple who filed the federal suit, released a statement that read: "Obviously I'm encouraged by what I've heard but I'm cautious (whether public health) will actually comply with the attorney general's direction."

Thompson also expressed concern about the governor's response, and whether or not he'll ignore the attorney general's decision.

The attorney general said at the press conference that she spoke with Calvo and told him that the federal lawsuit is "indefensible."

The governor told Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson that he maintains his position that Guam law should stand until a judicial decision, she said.

The island's public health will not accept applications from same-sex couples "until further notice," said Casil, the acting director of the Department of Public Health and Social Services.

"From my side, I just received a letter. It's not a legal opinion. It's a letter urging to issue the marriage licenses from the attorney general."

Casil said a decision will be made by Friday.

The department is looking to the governor's office for their decision, because the governor is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, Casil said.​

Contributing: Shawn Raymundo, Pacific Daily News