What’s New in the Fight for Marriage Equality?: Ohio, Kansas, Nevada, and Abroad!

At times, the fight for marriage equality can seem both incredibly fast and grindingly slow. After a series of victories in 2013 that culminated in two positive Supreme Court decisions, the pace of marriage equality has slowed due to the ponderous way that court cases work their way through the system. However, in an effort to keep everyone on the same page about what is happening on this very important front, we’re starting a semi-regular column that will give you the highlights on what is happening state-by-state in the battle for national (and international!) marriage equality.

In Ohio, four legally married couples filed a civil rights lawsuit against the state to object to the state’s ban on recognizing same-sex marriages on birth certificates.

In Indiana, a state Senate committee advanced a bill that would put an anti-gay marriage initiative on the 2014 ballot by a vote of 8-4 along party lines. However, due to a passage that has been stricken from the bill, the initiative would not be eligible for the ballot until 2016 at the earliest. Indiana state law requires all constitutional amendments to be approved in exactly the same form by two consecutive terms of the legislature.

In Nevada, state attorney general Catherine Masto has filed a motion with the Court of Appeals, removing herself as a defendant of that state’s gay marriage ban. Both she and the governor find the law indefensible.

Internationally, Ireland is considering taking up marriage equality, though it will have to wait until 2015 for a full hearing. However, in more positive news, they are considering a new law that would allow the country to recognize same sex unions performed in other jurisdictions. With same sex marriage legal in most of the United Kingdom (including now Scotland!) this could be a major benefit to couples in that area ().

A same sex marriage ban in El Salvador also failed this week when it was unable to get even a quarter of that country’s legislature to support it.

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