U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Stephen Schwartz defended North Carolina’s H.B.2 discrimination law & fought against trans student Gavin Grimm in court. Now he’s going to be a federal judge.

The judges wrote, “This ban is outmoded and at odds with current science. Such obsolete understandings cannot justify a ban.”

The transgender man who continues to fight for the rights of trans students has decided it’s time to leave home.

When classes resume this fall, the Virginia graduate will make his case that even as an alum he has the right to use his high school’s boys’ bathroom.

NOM is seeking $691,000 in legal fees related to an unsuccessful lawsuit that claimed a leaked tax disclosure was deliberate and politically motivated.

The leaders of the two branches of the North Carolina state legislature notified a federal court on Friday that they will ask the Supreme Court to rule promptly on the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. In a filing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the two legislative leaders […]

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court on Tuesday cleared the way for same-sex couples to be married in South Carolina beginning this week – at least for now. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, denied the state’s request to block the marriages while it appeals a lower court’s ruling overturning South Carolina’s ban on gay marriage.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina legislative leaders are giving formal notice that their lawyers will appeal a Greensboro federal judge’s ruling that legalized same-sex marriages in the state. Attorneys hired by Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis say they’re appealing. Lawmakers decided to appeal earlier this year after…

Same-sex couples won the right to wed in Alaska and Arizona on Friday, after separate court decisions ended bans in those states. And a third ruling in Wyoming means marriages there could begin within a week. The rulings bookend two weeks of legal wrangling, triggered by a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week that effectively legalized same-sex marriage …

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders plan to appeal a ruling that struck down the state’s gay marriage ban. Legal experts say any appeal would face an uphill battle. House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger’s appeal would go to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia…

RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond-based federal appeals court says its ruling authorizing same-sex marriages in Virginia will take effect Monday afternoon. According to the clerk’s office, the mandate will be issued at 1 p.m. Court clerks will be able to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after that time.

NORFOLK, Va. — Virginia officials are preparing for the possibility that same-sex couples will be able to wed in the state Thursday by drafting a revised marriage license form for courthouse clerks to use as soon as they open their doors. The state’s ban on same-sex marriages was struck down by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided not to delay its ruling while it …

This week’s Marriage News Watch report from Matt Baume at the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) recaps last week’s refusal by the Fourth Circuit to delay it’s order striking down Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban. Now, anti-gay defendants have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in at the last minute.

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court is clarifying when same-sex marriages could begin in Virginia. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond decided Wednesday not to delay its ruling that struck down the state’s gay marriage ban.

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court refused Wednesday to delay its ruling striking down Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban, which means that same-sex couples could begin marrying in the state as early as next week. The state would also need to start recognizing marriages from out of state by next Wednesday, assuming the U.S. Supreme Court does not intervene.

RICHMOND, Va. — The plaintiffs in a court case challenging Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban want a federal appeals court to allow gay marriages to occur before the U.S. Supreme Court can rule on the issue. “The right to marry is fundamental, and thus Virginia’s marriage prohibition irreparably harms plaintiffs-appellees – and all gay men and lesbians in the …

RICHMOND, Va. — A county court clerk in northern Virginia is seeking to delay a federal appeals court ruling striking down the state’s same-sex marriage ban. A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled Monday that Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban approved by voters in 2006 is unconstitutional.

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in a decision that could overturn similar prohibitions in the Carolinas and West Virginia. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond is the second federal appellate court to overturn gay marriage bans, after the Denver circuit, and is the first to affect …

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage entered the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday, and judge’s questions and comments seemed to demonstrate a lean towards supporting marriage equality in the commonwealth.

RICHMOND, Va. — Advocates and opponents of gay marriage will turn their attention to Virginia, where a federal appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday in a case challenging the state’s ban on same-sex unions.