On the heels of a flurry of legal developments Tuesday afternoon, Probate Judge Irvin Condon of Charleston County, South Carolina began issuing marriage licenses this morning! Judge Condon did not wait for the stay deadline of November 20 that had been set in the ruling striking down South Carolina’s ban on marriage equality.
Marriage equality is now the law of the land in South Carolina and LGBT couples will be able to receive marriage licenses across the state Thursday, November 20. (There is a 24-hour waiting period in South Carolina to marry.)
In Mississippi, we’re waiting for a ruling from Judge Carlton W. Reeves in Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant, which will hopefully strike down Mississippi’s marriage ban. We don’t know when Judge Reeves will rule, but to put things in perspective, a ruling in the next week would be considered fast.
As we’re finally breaking through across the South, it’s hard to believe it has been a month since we won marriage equality in North Carolina.
An important article about the role that faith communities have played in this movement for LGBT rights was just published by ThinkProgress. Please take a moment to read it: The Unlikely Story of How Religion Helped Bring Same-Sex Marriage to North Carolina.
And for those in Western North Carolina, we ask that you join CSE, TranZmission and Just Us For All at a Transgender Day of Remembrance event in Asheville on Thursday evening.
To keep up with news, opinions and analysis of LGBT life across the South, subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, “The LGBT South.”
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