North Dakota
North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple said the state will follow the ruling: “The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriage is legal throughout the nation, and we will abide by this federal mandate,” he said in a one-sentence statement.
News outlets across the state profiled marriages and celebrations including in Minot, Fargo, Cass County, and Ward County.
But those marriage licensed weren’t approved in all counties. Some waited until a federal judge concurred with the Supreme Court decision under the advice of North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, the Fargo Forum reported:
Counties in North Dakota are taking different approaches in the wake of Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages nationwide.
Other counties decided to wait until a decision from U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ralph Erickson in Fargo on a pending court case.
A lawsuit filed last year in North Dakota by several same-sex couples against a state ban on same-sex marriage was put on hold until the nation’s high court made its ruling.
The couples filed a motion Friday to enter judgment, said North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. Following a response from the defendants, Erickson will hand down his decision in that case.
“There is no question that there will be same-sex marriages in North Dakota,” Stenehjem said. “… right now it’s just a question of timing.”
Say Anything Blog has the ruling from Judge Ralph Erickson that ruled North Dakota’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional following the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage equality across the country.
Stephen Colbert poked fun at the ruling sarcastically claiming, “If you’re a homosexual and living in North Dakota, all your problems are solved! Wow, history moves fast. It’s hard to believe gay Americans achieved full personhood just five years after corporations did.”
A Bismarck brewery is offering a special beer marketed to LGBT Pride, according to NewNowNext:
Laughing Sun Brewing Co. brewed 120 gallons of Black Cherry Fairy Ale, created especially to celebrate the Peace Garden State’s LGBT community.
Related: The 7 Best Gay Sports Bars In America
Brew masters Todd Sattler and Mike Frohlich used locally sourced sand cherries to give the ale a deep red color and tartness.
“These fruits work great for summertime beers,” Sattler told the Bismarck Tribune. “It’s light-bodied and it finished nice and clear.”
Iowa
The Gortz Haus Gallery, a bistro that refused to serve same-sex couples, has closed, USA Today reports:
An art gallery and bistro whose owners attracted controversy for refusing to host same-sex wedding ceremonies plans to close permanently, its owners announced Monday.
A Des Moines couple filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in 2013 after Dick and Betty Odgaard, owners of the Gortz Haus, refused to let them rent the gallery housed in a 77-year-old former Lutheran church for their wedding. The Odgaards argued that same-sex marriage was against their Mennonite faith.
Iowa’s Catholic bishops blasted the Supreme Court ruling, the Freeman Journal reports:
Iowa’s four Catholic bishops say they are saddened by a U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the country.
In a statement released Friday soon after the court issued its decision, the bishops expressed sadness and noted, “To make something legal does not mean that it is true or good. Take, for example, the ruling that legalized abortion.”
The bishops say they will lead people to live under the gospels and quoted the passage: “One man and one woman who freely give themselves to each other in a permanent and exclusive partnership, to be helpmates for each other, and to be open to conceiving and bringing up children.”
Rep. Steve King reacted to marriage ruling over the weekend several times:
On Fox News, he said:
KING: I’m not gonna abide by an edict that comes down from five judges, two of whom have conducted same sex marriages in their private lives, in their spare time. They should have recused themselves. When you think of what the Supreme Court has done to try to reorder domestic life in America, I would say ‘Dred Scott.’ They made a mess out of slavery. They ripped prayer out of the public schools in 1963. We abided by that decision and our moral structure in this country devolved. They promoted, also, abortion on demand in 1973 in Roe vs. Wade and nearly 60 million Americans have been aborted because of that.
STEVE KING: [Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan] were conducting same-sex marriages before they sat down to decide the case. it is impossible for them to be objective, if they are actively in their private lives violating society’s norms and then ratifying it in a Supreme Court decision. And if those two had recused themselves we would have a 4-3 decision that would have preserved marriage as it has been throughout all the history of humanity…
I’m advocating today that the states take a look at simply abolishing civil marriage, civil unions, civil relationships entirely.
Bob Vander Plaats of the anti-LGBT Family Leader lashed out at the ruling, the Nonpareil reports:
Vander Plaats says the Constitution “was trampled on by activist judges who went way outside of their scope of jurisdiction and defied the laws of nature and nature’s God and it’s going to have severe ripple effects throughout this country.”
He says he’s more optimistic about the institution of marriage today than ever before because he believes the court’s decision will serve as a wakeup call for the church. He says the country knows right from wrong and “what this court did today was exceptionally wrong and they know that marriage simply means the institution of one man and one woman.”
He says it’s a matter of time before “we right the ship.”
Vander Plaats says, “Progressives may believe they won the day today but I really believe when we have a full-spectrum conservative who embraces the Constitution versus tramples on the Constitution, who upholds the laws of nature and natures God versus believing that he is God, I believe when we have that full-spectrum conservative he will be elected president.”
The Gazette looked at same-sex marriages in Iowa an found that they now constitute 15 percent of all marriage in the state:
Legally allowed in Iowa starting in 2009, same-sex marriages annually have accounted for a small portion of all marriages in the state, but took an uptick in 2013 when they accounted for nearly 15 percent of all unions.
According to statistics kept by the Iowa Department of Health, and the agency’s estimates for 2014, at least 11,136 same-sex couples have been wed in six years.
The Mason City Globe Gazette covered the Pride march and marriage equality celebration in downtown on Friday:
The rally in downtown Mason City celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex couples have the right to marry was a thrilling sense of déjà vu for Kelly Cronin.
Only better.
Cronin, of Mason City, and her wife were engaged two years ago this month at another rally in the city’s Central Park. That one celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision granting gay couples federal benefits.
Friday’s decision gave gays couple across the country the right to get married.
“It’s very exciting this morning. It felt like two years ago, but kind of on steroids,” Cronin said before the rally got underway. “It was funny, as I was driving to work this morning, it did feel different. It was almost like that exuberance that first year you come out of the closet … It had that feel to it.”
Popular progressive shop Raygun capitalized on the ruling with T-shirts, the Des Moines Register reports:
America is now finally as gay as Iowa.
That was the statement — simultaneously snarky and triumphant — splashed across T-shirts on Friday by Raygun, the hip clothing and home-goods store based in Des Moines’ East Village neighborhood.
It’s a play on a message the shop has been printing up and selling on shirts for years — updated as new states legalized gay marriage, but always noting Iowa’s status as an early adopter.
An Oskaloosa company donated the lights that turned the White House rainbow over the weekend, the Des Moines Register reports:
Lights that were donated from an Oskaloosa company in 2008 helped illuminate the White House in rainbow colors following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage Friday.
Musco Lighting, based out of Oskaloosa since 1975, is known for its sports lighting and has worked on other major landmarks and events such as Mount Rushmore and several Olympic Games.
For Friday, Jason Van Wyk, a public relations officer for the company, said White House electricians likely inserted gels over the lighting fixtures.
“We believe that is what they did for the rainbow effect,” Van Wyk said
Wisconsin
Racine’s LGBT community celebrated the Supreme Court ruling with a march through downtown on Sunday, WKOW reports:
Marchers walked from the Racine County Courthouse to Monument Square for the 6th annual Gay Rights March.
This march also commemorated the 46th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in New York city.
Those demonstrations were believed to be a catalyst of the LGBT movement.
“It’s something we have fought for, worked very hard for, and we’ve been celebrating all the little victories along the way. Wisconsin allowing it, other states allowing it, and now it’s the law of the land,” said Reverend Tony Larsen of the Olympia Unitarian Church.
The mayor of Racine also proclaimed Sunday as “Gay Rights Day” in the city.
Wisconsin’s two LGBT members of Congress weighed in on the ruling, News 27 WKOW reports:
Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide was deeply personal for the two Madison members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) was the first openly lesbian woman to become a U.S. Senator, while Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI-2) is one of the few openly gay congressmen who is also legally married.
Both told 27 News they never thought they would see this day come quite so soon.
“It’s that bumper sticker that – I hate to repeat it, but sometimes bumper stickers are right – ‘if people lead, eventually the leaders will follow,”‘ said Rep. Pocan. “We saw the movement in public opinion and when the President made that (statement that he supported gay marriage), that actually helped even more, especially in certain demographics of population.”
“I’ve always said – love is love, family is family – and we know discrimination against love, against family is wrong and now we have the Supreme Court of the United States saying it’s also unconstitutional,” said Sen. Baldwin.
On MSNBC’s “Up w/ Steve Kornacki” Sen. Baldwin spoke about the impacts to “religious liberty”:
“Certainly the first amendment says that in institutions of faith that there is absolute power to, you know, to observe deeply held religious beliefs. I don’t think it extends far beyond that. We’ve seen the set of arguments play out in issues such as access to contraception. Should it be the individual pharmacist whose religious beliefs guides whether a prescription is filled, or in this context, they’re talking about expanding this far beyond our churches and synagogues to businesses and individuals across this country. I think there are clear limits that have been set in other contexts and we ought to abide by those in this new context across America.”
Celebrations were held across Wisconsin including Kenosha, Kenosha News reports:
The ruling inspired 16-year-old high-schooler Violet Blachowicz and her friends to walk along the lakefront decked out in rainbow flags and pro-gay banners.
“I almost cried when I found out about the ruling,” she said. “Everyone should be able to have the same rights as everyone else; we’re all human. Just because a girl likes a girl or a boy likes a boy doesn’t mean that they’re at a different level.”
As they continued their walk down Sixth Avenue, many drivers honked their horns in support; other students cheered them on.
Seventeen-year-old Tremper graduate Paul Gattshall met a group of friends at the lakefront to celebrate. Gattshall’s parents were among the first same-sex couples to be married in Wisconsin.
“It was a big thing for me. When I heard the news I ran downstairs and was shouting at my mom. It was huge news, everyone was talking to her and calling me about it. It affects everyone we know,” he said. “This is a historical day.”
Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican running for president, called for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution barring same-sex marriage:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took a stronger anti-gay marriage stance after Friday’s ruling, saying he would support a constitutional amendment that would allow individual states to ban same-sex unions.
“The only alternative left for the American people is to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to reaffirm the ability of the states to continue to define marriage,” he said in statement.
South Dakota
South Dakota’s governor and attorney general advised clerks to implement the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday, the Argus Leader reports:
The Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states Friday marked a conspicuous shift in policy for South Dakota, a state that voted to ban such marriages less than a decade ago.
The full effect of the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges is yet to be defined for South Dakota.
Left open are questions of employment or housing discrimination against homosexuals, adoption rights, religious freedom protections for public or private citizens and the rights of inmates.
“You’re going to have a lot of varying arguments in this evolving area of the law as a result of this decision,” Attorney General Marty Jackley said.
Jackley advised state agencies less than two hours after the high court issued its 5-4 decision that same-sex marriage is the law in the state “effective immediately.” Jackley stressed in his initial statement that he disagrees with the decision, but both he and Gov. Dennis Daugaard said the U.S. is a “nation of laws,” and that the ruling will mean changes.
The plaintiffs in a South Dakota lawsuit are celebrating the Supreme Court decision, News Center 1 reports:
A historical vote Friday after the Supreme court’s ruling legalized same sex marriage in all 50 states. A rapid city couple made the commute back from Minneapolis to celebrate at the Rushmore Holiday Inn saying their still in shock their now considered legally married in the state of South Dakota. They were the face of a lawsuit challenging South Dakota’s ban on gay marriage. “For her its been longer, for me 30 years, and never ever thought yesterday would happen” said Nancy Rosenbrahn. A flood of emotions. “We’re still absorbing the enormity of yesterday. We’re figuring out where do we start on Monday.”
Jennie and Nancy plan to officially change their last names on Monday but they say there’s still a lot of work to be done. This is only the beginning, not just for the couple “We have been so focused on the decision yesterday of getting marriage through and I got asked what does it mean the next day. I didn’t realize we haven’t thought about it. We have a long way to go until we have full equality. We are very fortunate that all of the organizations that were involved in the marriage movement are now shifting there gears. They are all starting to talk like Jen and I did in the beginning. We said marriage will be great but if you go get a marriage license you can still lose your job.”
After traveling to Minnesota to get married in April of 2014 the couple now says they’ll have their own ceremony at Mount Rushmore in the Fall. “It will probably ring more true because we finally get to say those words in our home state. We had to run away to get married. So this is open to everyone, who doesn’t want to wear there wedding dress one more time?” In what’s being called a National Marriage ceremony, the first ever to be held in the amphitheater at Mount Rushmore.
Pennington County is believed to be the first county to issue a marriage license on Friday, the Argus Leader reports:
Officials in Rapid City issued a marriage license to two South Dakota women Friday just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples in America have the constitutional right to marry.
Though the high court set a three-week window for the losers to challenge its ruling, South Dakota…
The two women, Melissa Eidson and Misty Collins, became the first same-sex couple in Pennington County and likely the state, according to Pennington County Register of Deeds Donna Mayer.
South Dakota Republicans blasted the decision, Rapid City Journal reports:
South Dakota’s congressional delegation, all Republicans, criticized the high court’s ruling. U.S. Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem said they all believe a marriage should be between a man and a woman.
“Today’s ruling is a blow to state’s rights,” Rounds said. “I believe states have a constitutional role in setting their own policy on marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman, and traditional families play an important role in the fabric of our society.”
After the news broke Friday morning, some members of the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community began organizing impromptu celebrations while others headed to their local government centers.