Category: Maryland
Father of dead U.S. Marine ordered to pay organizers of anti-gay protest
Fred Phelps
The father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq has been ordered to pay $16,510 to a family that protested his son’s funeral in Maryland.
Albert Snyder sued members of the Westboro Baptist Church because they waved signs saying “God hates the USA,” “Matt is in Hell” and others bearing anti-gay slurs at the 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.
A federal jury in Baltimore awarded Snyder $11 million in damages in 2007, saying the group from Topeka, Kan., intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the family. The award was reduced to $5 million and was eventually overturned after an appeal by church group leader Fred Phelps.
Now, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered Snyder to pay $16,510.80 to Phelps to cover the cost of their appeals.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on the case. Continue reading…
Previously from LGBTQ Nation:
Advocates, opponents, politicians react to today's Prop 8 ruling
LGBT binational families seek UAFA inclusiveness
DOMA ruling leaves Obama administration pondering next move
Federal judge rules 'Defense of Marriage Act' unconstitutional
Kagan: 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy 'unwise and unjust'
Obama hosts White House pride reception
Maryland AG: State must recognize gay unions performed out-of-state
Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler released a long-awaited opinion Wednesday saying that Maryland should recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, drawing cheers from gay-rights supporters and igniting immediate debate on a highly contentious issue in an election year.
From the Baltimore Sun:
With the ruling, state agencies will be required to extend all benefits that heterosexual couples enjoy to married gay couples. These could include health insurance expansion, spousal legal immunities, property rights, the ability to file wrongful-death suits and perhaps some tax benefits, experts said yesterday.
“There is no law in Maryland that says we don’t recognize out-of-state marriages between same-sex couples,” Gansler said. “Based on the law and the state of the law in Maryland and the Constitution of the United States, this is what the law is.”
Previously from LGBTQ Nation:
Father of dead U.S. Marine ordered to pay organizers of anti-gay protest
Prop 8 opponents must release campaign materials, judge rules
Lambda Legal, NJ gay couples back in court over right to marry
NJ gay marriage advocates taking their case back to state supreme court
Hayworth says gay marriage will lead to bestiality
Judge rejects gay marriage opponents -- refuses to 'usurp' DC elections board
Maryland lawmakers reject bill aimed at invalidating gay unions
Members of a Maryland House Judiciary committee on Wednesday shot down a bill that would prohibit Maryland from recognizing gay marriages validated by other states or countries.
Without discussion or debate, the committee soundly defeated the Same Sex Marriages – Foreign Jurisdictions – Invalidity Act (House Bill 90) by a vote of 12-8.
The bill, if approved, would have invalidated marriages between same-sex couples entered into in another state or in a foreign country, and would have declared “marriages between individuals of the same sex are against the public policy of the State.”
The bill’s sponsor, Emmett C. Burns, a Baltimore County Democrat and minister, had proposed that the state, which does not allow same-sex unions, pass a law explicitly declaring that such marriages are illegal, even when performed in another state.
The same committee has rejected similar measures introduced in other years. Its vote prevents the bill from going to the House floor for debate.
Previously from LGBTQ Nation:
Family ‘friend’ admits to murdering Baltimore gay teen
As LGBT advocates around the country are planning candlelight vigils in memory of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado — the 19-year-old boy who was burned, dismembered and decapitated last week in Puerto Rico — word comes out of Baltimore about another murdered gay teen.
Jason Mattison Jr., a 15-year old openly gay sophomore at the Vivian T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy in Baltimore, was found dead last week at his aunt’s house. He had been raped, gagged with a pillowcase and stabbed repeatedly in the head and throat. Then his body was shoved into an upstairs closet at the house.
Police have arrested 35-year-old Dante Parrish and charged him with first degree murder.
Police say Parrish, a family friend who had previously spent 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 1999, admitted to killing Jason. Parrish is being held without bail. Continue reading…
