Of the five territories, only Puerto Rico has faced a lawsuit seeking the right for gay and lesbian couples to wed, and a federal judge there – bucking the trend in federal courts on the mainland – rejected the suit. That case is under appeal before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
In the other four territories – the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas – no gay or lesbian couples have stepped forward to make a legal case for marriage rights, according to advocacy groups monitoring the situation.
The five territories would be covered by a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling establishing a constitutional right for same-sex couples to wed, notes Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an attorney with the national gay-rights group Lambda Legal. Several same-sex marriage cases from the mainland are before the high court this spring, and a ruling is expected by the end of June.
Gonzalez-Pagan said he hoped same-sex couples in the territories would step forward to seek marriage rights.
“No matter how big or small the population might be in any one of these territories, or the fact there’s vehement opposition in them, it doesn’t mean any citizens should be left behind,” he said. “All of them have a fundamental right to marry. They’re all entitled to equal protection.”
The only pending territorial lawsuit involving gay marriage was filed in Puerto Rico last year by five couples – two who are seeking to marry in Puerto Rico and three who live on the island and want recognition of marriages that occurred elsewhere.
In October, U.S. District Court Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez upheld Puerto Rico’s ban on same-sex marriage, saying voters and legislators, not judges, should decide the issue.
Lambda Legal is now appealing Perez-Gimenez’ ruling before the 1st Circuit.
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Velez, a 50-year-old attorney and consultant, said she’s optimistic that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage and thus nullify Puerto Rico’s ban. Meanwhile, she has been heartened by the support of family and friends as the lawsuit proceeds, “even from acquaintances who, due to religious reasons, might not be too happy about what we were doing.”
However, the leader of the conservative group Puerto Rico for Families, pastor and physician Cesar Vazquez, says his group will be dismayed if the Supreme Court decides to legalize same-sex marriage.
“It doesn’t mean we have to approve of it, and it doesn’t mean we can’t keep educating people,” said Vazquez.
