gay marriage

Officials at Albany County School District One are considering a new policy to protect and support transgender and gender nonconforming students.

The proposed policy would prevent schools in Laramie and surrounding areas from requiring students to use restrooms or play on sports teams that conflict with the gender identity they express at school.

District assistant superintendent Mike Hamel says the policy lays a broad framework for supporting and protecting transgender students on a case-by case basis, stressing privacy.

The gay rights advocacy group that has been fighting Wyoming’s gay marriage ban in state court for the past year celebrated the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state Tuesday.

Wyoming Equality’s executive director Jeran Artery stood outside the Cheyenne court house and watched two couples emerge with marriage licenses--and then tie the knot in brief official ceremonies near the court house entrance. 

Artery says this is what his group has been working for.

County clerks all across Wyoming should begin issuing same sex marriage licenses Tuesday morning.

This comes after Wyoming’s Attorney General said the state would not appeal last week’s federal court ruling that overturned Wyoming’s same sex marriage ban.

Cheyenne resident AJ McDaniel plans to get his marriage license as soon as he can. He says he had a wedding party last week.

“And we did the whole wedding ceremony and the church and reception for all our friends and family. So now we are just really excited to make it legal.”

A federal judge has overturned Wyoming’s ban on same sex marriage.

The court has ordered that Wyoming must begin issuing same sex marriage licenses, but it has stayed that order until next Thursday, or until the State decides not to appeal the ruling.

“I’ve reached out to the State Attorney General’s office and asked them if they would file a notice with the court indicating they don’t intend to appeal,” says James Lyman, an attorney with the plaintiffs. “If they do not appeal the order will go into effect immediately. I have not yet received a response from them.”

On Thursday, a federal court in Casper heard arguments on whether Wyoming needed to start issuing same sex marriage licenses. The courtroom was packed, but the hearing only went on for about an hour.

Federal Judge Scott Skavdahl heard same sex marriage advocates argue that because the 10th circuit court in Denver ruled earlier that same sex marriage bans were unconstitutional Wyoming needed to allow same sex marriage immediately.

Same-sex marriage will probably soon be legal here in Wyoming. But gay people can still be fired simply for being gay.

While Wyoming has laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, sex, race, or national origin, the state has nothing on the books preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation. Laramie Representative Cathy Connolly has been leading the charge to change that. She says Wyoming’s equal employment opportunity office, which deals with workplace discrimination, can’t accept complaints dealing with sexual orientation.

A federal court hearing next week could enable same-sex couples to begin getting marriage licenses in Wyoming. Four same-sex couples and a gay-rights advocacy group filed suit Tuesday seeking the right to marry in Wyoming. U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl will consider their request to decide immediately on gay marriage in Wyoming at next Thursday's hearing in Casper.   

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead says it’s the duty of the state attorney general to continue to defend state law in the court that says marriage can only occur between one man and one woman. But his Democratic opponent Pete Gosar says the state should drop the case and allow gay marriage to occur in Wyoming.

"I think there are no differences in citizens in our constitution and in the U.S. constitution and what’s afforded to one, must be afforded to all."

Monday’s Supreme Court decision not to review state gay marriage bans that had been overturned in federal courts means that the highest legal authority in Wyoming recognizes gay marriage. But how soon same sex marriage licenses will be issued in the state remains unclear.

That’s because a state statute defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Wyoming Equality is an advocacy group challenging that law in state court. Group lawyer Thomas Lyman says regardless of the outcome of his case gay marriage is now legal in Wyoming.

The Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard foundation is delighted that the Supreme Court appears to have opened the door for gay marriage across the country. Jason Marsden notes that 16 years ago tonight/Monday, Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, tied up, and beaten to within an inch of his life. He died a few days later. 

Marsden believes Shepard's murder helped ignite a new discussion on gay rights that's ultimately led to growing support for same sex marriages.

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear appeals from states seeking to prohibit same sex marriage this term. But a Wyoming lawsuit may still need to go through the system before gay marriage is allowed in this state.

A new study claims that Wyoming is missing out on millions of dollars of lost business by not legalizing same sex marriage.

The study comes from the Williams Institute, a think tank housed at the University of California Los Angeles. It claims that Wyoming would see over two million dollars in new revenues in the first few years after gay marriage is legalized.

Advocates for gay marriage in Wyoming delivered more than 2,300 signed petitions to the Capitol Tuesday, urging Governor Matt Mead and Attorney General Peter Michael to stop defending the state’s gay marriage ban in court.

More than 50 Wyoming lawyers are expressing support for a group's effort to change state law to allow same-sex couples to marry.
 
A group called Wyoming Equality is challenging the state prohibition against same-sex marriage in state court. Group Chairman Jeran Artery says he hopes the lawyers' support sparks a statewide debate.
 
Wyoming Equality and four same-sex Wyoming couples filed a lawsuit earlier this year challenging the state law that defines marriage as existing only between a man and a woman.
 

Former U.S. Senator Al Simpson is appearing is a commercial in support of marriage equality, which is airing across Wyoming, Colorado and Utah.

Wyoming currently does not allow same sex marriage. Simpson not only supports gay marriage but also says same-sex couples should be treated the same as heterosexual couples, when it comes to having or adopting children.

“I have seen the most dysfunctional children come out of a union of a man and wife that I have yet to observe out of a same sex couple," Simpson says.

Supporters from all walks of life attended the kickoff of a new statewide education campaign that is intended to draw support for same sex marriage.  Four same sex couples and the “gay rights” advocacy group Wyoming equality filed lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s law that says marriage can only be between a man and a woman. 

Wyoming Equality Chairman Jeran Artery says the issue is important to many people.                

The U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act will not change state laws regarding whether gay couples can marry. But gay rights activists say they hope the ruling will be an important step toward marriage equality in Wyoming.

Jeran Artery with the group Wyoming Equality says after today’s decision, his group is considering several options to try to get gay marriage legalized here.

Wyoming gay marriage supporters are holding a rally in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s hearings on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, and Proposition eight that repealed a gay marriage law in California. 

This Sunday at noon, people from across the state are invited to don red clothing and gather in Casper’s Pioneer Park to rally for marriage equality and the repeal of both the DOMA, and Proposition 8.

After a passionate debate, the Wyoming House of Representatives defeated a bill that would have allowed adults to enter into a domestic partnership.  Supporters of the measure say that the legal agreement would have given all non-married couples a legal contract that would provide them with a range of legal tools to use in health care situations and in cases of a partner's death.  But others strongly opposed the measure.  Thermopolis Republican Nathan Winters says it’s clear what the bill is trying to do.

The Wyoming Legislature will take on just about every possible hot-button social issue this week, hearing bills on guns, abortion and same-sex marriage.

House Speaker Tom Lubnau, a Republican from Gillette, says he's scheduled all the contentious social issue bills for hearings this week to save money on security.

Lubnau says the Legislature always increases its security when lawmakers consider gun and abortion issues because of the large crowds that typically turn out.