Quote:In a precedent-setting decision that could bode well for the legalization of same-sex marriage in the Philippines, the country’s Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples can be considered co-owners of property acquired over the course of their relationship.

Quote:Legislation legalizing civil unions or full marriage equality for same-sex couples in the Philippines has been stalled in the country’s Congress over multiple sessions.
Concurring opinions in the case noted the gap between public opinion, which is generally supportive of LGBTQ+ rights in the Philippines, and legislative action.

Quote:"Refusing to recognize a marriage between two Union citizens, is contrary to EU law because it infringes [the] freedom and the right to respect for private and family life," the ECJ said.

The courts were addressing the case of a Polish couple living in Berlin who married there in 2018 but upon moving to Poland had their application to register their marriage certificate denied "on the ground that Polish law does not allow marriage between persons of the same sex," the ECJ statement said.

"The spouses in question, as EU citizens, enjoy the freedom to move and reside within the territory of the Member States and the right to lead a normal family life when exercising that freedom and upon returning to their Member State of origin," the court said.

It added that "such a refusal is contrary to EU law" and "infringes not only the freedom to move and reside, but also the fundamental right to respect for private and family life."

Quote:The Supreme Court rejected a long-shot effort Monday to overturn its ruling guaranteeing same-sex marriage nationwide.

Former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis directly asked the justices to overrule the 2015 landmark decision after a jury awarded damages to a couple whom Davis refused to issue a marriage license.

“The Court can and should fix this mistake,” her attorneys wrote in court filings.

In a brief order, the justices declined to take up Davis’s appeal, alongside dozens of other petitions up for consideration at the justices’ weekly closed-door conference. There were no noted dissents.

Quote:The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that state judges may decline to perform weddings, including same-sex marriages, based on religious belief. Critics say the move could erode public confidence in the impartiality of the courts and chip away at the practical reach of marriage equality in Texas.

The order, issued Friday, adds a single but sweeping line to Canon 4 of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct: “It is not a violation of these canons for a judge to publicly refrain from performing a wedding ceremony based upon a sincerely held religious belief.”

Quote:South Korea is finally recognising same-sex couples after announcing it will acknowledge them in the national census.

Under newly announced policy changes, the Ministry of Data and Statistics will recognise same-sex couples living in the same household in the Population and Housing Census.

The government confirmed on Tuesday (21 October) it would allow same-gender housholds to pick “spouse” and “cohabiting partner” options on the census, which circulates every five years.

Previous iterations flagged the options as errors and rejected, according to Rainbow Action Korea – a coalition of 49 LGBTQ+ organisations.

Quote:Ten years after the Supreme Court extended marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide, the justices this fall will consider for the first time whether to take up a case that explicitly asks them to overturn that decision.

Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for six days in 2015 after refusing to issue marriage licenses to a gay couple on religious grounds, is appealing a $100,000 jury verdict for emotional damages plus $260,000 for attorneys fees.

In a petition for writ of certiorari filed last month, Davis argues First Amendment protection for free exercise of religion immunizes her from personal liability for the denial of marriage licenses.

More fundamentally, she claims the high court's decision in Obergefell v Hodges -- extending marriage rights for same-sex couples under the 14th Amendment's due process protections -- was "egregiously wrong."

"The mistake must be corrected," wrote Davis' attorney Mathew Staver in the petition. He calls Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in Obergefell "legal fiction."

The petition appears to mark the first time since 2015 that the court has been formally asked to overturn the landmark marriage decision. Davis is seen as one of the only Americans currently with legal standing to bring a challenge to the precedent.

Quote:Around 100,000 people defied a government ban and police orders on Saturday to march in what organizers called the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hungary's history in an open rebuke of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government.

Marchers gambled with potential police intervention and heavy fines to participate in the 30th annual Budapest Pride, which was outlawed by a law passed in March by Orbán's right-wing populist governing party.

Quote:When I thought the trans debate couldn’t get any more absurd, the arguments thrown around by trans rights activists after the UK Supreme Court ruling last week proved me wrong. What about the Butch lesbians? they ask – as if it was ever about us. But then again, it always was. That’s the quiet part. And even now, as some of the more self-righteous start to say our names, it happens in the same tokenising tone that got us into this mess in the first place: we’re only relevant if we can be framed as some sort of non-woman, a convenient loophole that justifies letting men into women’s and lesbian spaces.

Quote:The Osaka High Court on Tuesday became the fifth high court in Japan to rule that the country's lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, but it upheld a lower court decision not to award damages.

The latest ruling, in line with those of the Sapporo, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Nagoya high courts, overturned the Osaka District Court's judgment that the effective ban on same-sex marriage was constitutional.

The Osaka High Court said that civil law provisions that do not allow same-sex marriage violate the right to equality under the Constitution.

Quote:Japan's civil law and family registration law provisions are based on marriage between a man and a woman, and the privileges that result from matrimony, including inheritance rights, tax benefits and joint custody of children, are only granted to heterosexual couples.

[...]

Japan remains the only Group of Seven country not to have legalized same-sex marriage or civil unions, despite growing pressure from the LGBT community and its supporters.

Quote:The ideas in this article are based on the experiences of Lesbian Caucus member Mary Ellen Kelleher, who has been creating and hosting lesbian events and creating communities since 2012. Her move to a new city meant the loss of an established lesbian community and challenges in finding community in a new town. Many lesbians share online that they are lonely for an in-person connection with other lesbians but don’t know how to create the community they’re craving.  Despite currently adverse conditions, lesbians still have the power to create and build our own in-person communities. 

Quote:At least nine US states have introduced measures to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v Hodges ruling that legalised equal marriage across the country.

Five of the measures, including one introduced in Michigan on Tuesday (25 February), are calling on the Supreme Court to overturn the landmark ruling that granted equal marriage rights across the country almost a decade ago.

According to NBC News, the states which have introduced measures explicitly seeking to reverse Obergefell v Hodges are Idaho, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

If the landmark ruling is overturned, it would mean that same-sex marriage rights would be decided on a state-by-state basis, meaning Republican states could look to ban equal marriage once more. This was seen when Roe v Wade was struck down in 2022; after states were allowed to implement their own laws, almost a dozen around the US moved to ban abortion with no exceptions.

Lawmakers in Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas have introduced similar bills on equal marriage – these don’t specifically reference Obergefell v Hodges, but would seek to create a category for marriage called “covenant marriage” which would be only for one man and one woman.

Quote:An Idaho House committee is considering asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

[...]

Same-sex marriage has been protected since 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision.

Scott claims that the court "exceeded it's constitutional authority in the decision legalizing same-sex-marriage."

"The court has overstepped its boundary," quoted Scott. "It undermined the right of voters to determine their own state's (laws surrounding same-sex marriage). So the purpose of this resolution is just to reaffirm our state authority to regulate marriage."