The same sex marriage issue is a bit clearer in Alabama, but not by much. A U.S. District Judge ordered the probate judge in Mobile County to issue marriages to same sex couples. What’s less certain is whether this ruling will force other counties to do likewise. All the legal wrangling could leave tomorrow especially hollow for one Tuscaloosa couple.
Musical greeting cards are one of the many Valentine’s Day items sold at the Publix supermarket in Tuscaloosa. There’s also flowers, stuffed teddy bears and chocolate…lots of chocolate. But what Meredith Bagley wanted was a marriage license and herself and her spouse Alexandrea Davenport.
“My brother actually got married on Valentine’s Day. His wife is Canadian. She’s now naturalized to the US, but they were waiting on immigration paperwork so she could get her resident license to work. And the paperwork came through on February 10 or 11. So they, likewise, said, ‘Why don’t we get married on Valentine’s Day?’ It’s cute, it’s adorable, and we’ll remember forever when our anniversary is!”
A federal court order last night may clear the way for Bagley and Davenport to exchange vows. Just a few days ago, the situation looked a lot more bleak… It’s quiet now outside the Tuscaloosa County courthouse. It was different story Monday morning when there were more TV cameras than applicants for same sex marriage licenses. Davenport says the application process didn’t go as planned…
“We had barely gotten a sentence in saying that we would like to request a marriage license, and we were told that they would not be performing same-sex marriages today or issuing licenses today."
Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge Hardy McCollum was one of around 50 probate judges in Alabama who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. They were following orders from Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore who told them the federal court ruling that overturned Alabama’s marriage ban didn’t apply to them.
Ben Cooper is the chair of Equality Alabama, an organization defending the rights of gays and the transgendered in Alabama. He says the probate judges that refused to comply with a federal order could face legal consequences.
“We have been working in partnership and have spoken with legal teams from the SPLC. Those are really the bodies that will work now to take action against those probate judges who have refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses.”
The SPLC he refers to is the Southern Poverty Law Center. Richard Cohen is the president.
“The probate judges who are refusing to issue licenses are putting themselves at risk of expensive lawsuits”.
And what about for Justice Moore?
“His actions undermine the confidence that the public has in the judiciary, and that’s an ethical violation. Judges are supposed to uphold the confidence that the public has in the judiciary. He’s doing the exact opposite.”
“We have an obligation as Christians, I think, to be honest about what marriage is and what it’s not.”
That’s Michael Kidd. He’s executive director of the Foundation for Moral Law. That’s a foundation that Justice Moore established to restore the knowledge of God in law and government. He says a constitutional amendment passed by the vast majority of Alabama voters shouldn’t be so easy to overturn.
“If we’re gonna go back and say ‘Well, we want marriage to include other things’, maybe we should have another vote. I don’t know why we would just let one judge or one group of judges make a decision for everyone after such a clear statement by 81% of the vote.”
That one judge is U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade. She declared Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban federally unconstitutional, and held a hearing Thursday to clarify her ruling and try to bring some order to the probate judges. One notable absence at that hearing? Chief Justice Roy Moore.
Many onlookers have compared Moore’s defiant stance on same-sex marriage to another on the campus of the University of Alabama in 1963... But Meredith Bagley notes an important difference between Moore and Governor George Wallace when he tried to keep two black students from enrolling at the Tuscaloosa campus.
“Wallace showed up. And Wallace stared down Katzenbach and the Kennedy administration and stood there in the 110 degrees of June of 1963. Roy Moore wasn’t in these county probate offices. Hardy McCollum wasn’t in that probate office. He was behind the door of his office waiting. The true heroes in these are the couples who walked in and asked even if they were going to be denied.”
Judge Granade ordered Mobile County to start granting same sex marriage licenses. Tuscaloosa County’s probate judge took the hint, and as of eight thirty this morning, Hardy McCollum will start issuing them as well. Bagley and Davenport can get theirs today, if they choose. All sides are waiting for what may be the ultimate decision on same sex marriage. That could come from the U.S. Supreme court in the Spring, which brings us back to Valentine’s Day.
The Publix supermarket chain that sold our card already offers insurance benefits to the same sex couples who work there. We don’t know exactly what will happen moving forward with the recognition of same-sex marriages in Alabama.