Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • A5

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RULING By DON WALTON Lincoln Journal Star Gov. Pete Ricketts said Mon- day that activist judge should not substitute his personal politi- cal preferences for the will of the by overturning a state i i a ban on same-sex marriage. Ricketts said he will work with Attorney General Doug Peterson to try to overturn U.S. District Judge Joseph decision clearing the way for same-sex marriage in Nebraska. The state is appealing the ruling.

definition of marriage is an issue for the people of Ne- the Republican governor said, and they have spoken by approving a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Meanwhile, Rep. Brad Ashford of Omaha applauded the court decision. against anyone based on their sexual orientation has no place in this the 2nd District Democratic con- gressman said in a statement. took a major stand against inequality in this with the court decision, Ashford said.

decision does not ask in- dividuals to abandon their prin- ciples on the issue, but rather to accept that this country is over- whelmingly diverse, and we must embrace those who might not hold our same Sen. Ben Sasse said he supports Ricketts and Peterson. the overwhelming major- ity of Nebraskans who supported our constitutional amend- ment, I understand that marriage is the union of a man and a woman and the strongest environment for raising the Republican senator said. and their rep- resentatives in the unicameral should set marriage policy instead of unelected Sasse said. Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or On Twitter Ricketts, Sasse condemn, Ashford applauds decision ERIC Journal Star Nebraska Gov.

Pete Ricketts (right) talks about court ruling striking down ban on same-sex marriages. Attorney General Doug Peterson (left) also spoke at a Monday afternoon news conference. ASHFORD The state has the right to en- courage couples to marry and pro- vide support for one another, the judge wrote. those laws must be enforced equally and without re- spect to gender. It is time to bring this unequal provision to an Bataillon ordered all relevant state officials to treat same-sex couples the same as other couples in the context of processing mar- riage licenses or the rights, protections, obligations or benefits of Fifty-five minutes after the rul- ing, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson filed an appeal.

The state had asked Bataillon to allow for at least 14 days before an injunction would go into effect. The judge gave it a week. The state also is seeking a stay that, if successful, would put the date on hold. The U.S. Circuit Court of Ap- peals could grant the stay, let Ba- order stand or extend the day it goes into effect, said Michael Gans, clerk of the Eighth Circuit court.

He said the court typically wants to hear from both sides before de- ciding, but that could happen within the week. court is well aware of the consequences of allowing things to proceed and then throwing it in Gans said. Although no telling how many people would head to offices across the state to get mar- riage licenses, there were 3,331 same-sex households in Nebraska in 2013, according to the U.S. Cen- sus Bureau. ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad said her group will work on all fronts to oppose a stay so that very strong, very broad ruling can take On the other side, Gov.

Pete Ricketts called Bataillon an activ- ist judge and said his ruling goes against the will of Nebraskans. definition of marriage is an issue for the people of Nebraska, and an activist judge should not substitute his personal political preferences for the will of the peo- he said. Bataillon is hardly alone. In the Eighth Circuit, federal judges in Arkansas, Missouri and South Dakota have struck down similar same-sex marriage bans since November. Second-time ruling This is not the first time Batail- lon has struck down ban.

In Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning, he declared it uncon- stitutional based on an argument that it violated same-sex right to access the political pro- cess. He ruled in 2005, the state appealed and the Eighth Circuit overturned him in 2006. At a news conference Monday, the new attorney general was quick to point out that Batail- lon had been overturned on the is- sue before and said he hopes that may be an indication the appeals court will be willing to put the order on hold. believe it should be left up to one judge or a panel of Peterson said.

a mat- ter that has to be debated among the Standing side-by-side, he and Ricketts said if someone wants to change the Constitution, the most appropriate method would be to put the question to another vote. can tell you from my exten- sive travels across the state that Nebraskans still believe in this traditional definition of Ricketts said. while I know this is a difficult issue for many families, including my own, I believe that this is an issue that should be decided by the prefer- ences of one judge. This is an issue for the people of Ricketts, whose sister Laura is a lesbian and outspoken supporter of LGBT issues, vowed to defend the ban, saying he and Peterson were sworn to uphold the Consti- tution and, what go- ing to The case decision came in an ACLU-backed lawsuit brought in November by seven couples seek- ing the right to marry and to have marriages performed legally in other states recognized here. Amy Miller, the legal director for ACLU of Nebraska, said last month that the case came down to a fun- damental right to marry.

The U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged that right in cases involving inter- racial couples, prison inmates and people who owe child support, she said. Constitutional rights never should have been put to a vote, Miller said. On the other side, Assistant At- torney General David Lopez wrote in a brief to the court that the state has an interest in promoting pro- creation and other interests asso- ciated with heterosexual marriage. He said citizens of a state have a recognized right to define marriage within its borders and that, unless or until the U.S.

Supreme Court takes the next step, ban is entitled to be presumed as constitutional. Lopez argued that to overturn the ban would demean democracy because Nebraskans voted for it. Both sides presented their ar- guments in Waters v. Ricketts to Bataillon on Feb. 19.

In decision, the judge said he persuaded by the contention that the ques- tion of restricting marriage to op- posite-sex couples should be left to the democratic process. amendment is not some- how insulated from review because it was enacted by a significant ma- he wrote. The judge said other rationales presented by the state have uni- formly been rejected by courts addressing the issue elsewhere. Arguments about the benefits of opposite-sex parenting, for ex- ample, were in archaic and overbroad stereotypes about gender he said. is about more than Bataillon wrote.

He said the arguments also ignore the damage done to children of same-sex couples whose parents have been denied the right to marry. He said the no- tion that those children should have fewer legal protections than others based on the circumstanc- es of their birth was not only ir- rational but He found that the couples in Waters v. Ricketts showed concrete ways they are suffering harm while the ban stands. contrast, the state has not demonstrated that it will be harmed, in any real sense, by the issuance of an Batail- lon wrote. One of the plaintiffs, Sally Wa- ters, has breast cancer and her wife, Susan, would be denied fi- nancial protections afforded to widows should she die before the case is decided.

And plaintiff Ja- son Cadek may not be able to make medical decisions in an emergency for his adopted 3-year- old daughter. day for is a day for the Conrad said within minutes of the ruling. love and commitment our clients share will finally be entitled to equality and respect in the eyes of the law. Today, motto of before the rings true for gay and lesbian Nebras- kans who seek to have their mar- riages recognized or who seek the freedom to marry right here in our great she said in a statement. Susan Waters said she got the news in a phone call.

Sally Waters told her, and at first, Susan Waters thought she was talking about the lottery. is sort of like the lottery in the sense that it means as much, actually more and it impacts a lot of she said. obviously thrilled, she said. At the same time, she said, going to wait and see. very hopeful, but Susan Waters said.

know more by Monday, when the state will either begin issuing marriage licenses to same- sex couples or the ruling is on hold. want us to wait, but they either. We want to wait for equality, and they wait to take it she said. next? The Eighth Circuit already was set to hold oral arguments in Oma- ha in May in appeals of cases that struck down bans in South Dakota, Arkansas and Missouri. Gans, the clerk of the court, said possible the Nebraska case could be added.

guess have to wait and see what they ask the court to he said. In each of those cases, federal judges lifted bans on same-sex marriage but stayed their own rulings to allow for anticipated appeals. Bataillon did not. So if the Eighth Circuit decides not to stay his de- cision, same-sex marriages could be happening in Nebraska as soon as next week. Eric Berger, an associate profes- sor of law at the Nebraska College of Law, said the Nebraska case is a prelude to a much bigger issue.

has symbolic importance in the state, but a pretty good chance the United States Su- preme Court will render a decision on the merits by late June, which will decide the issue for the whole he said. In January, the high court agreed to take up same-sex marriage cases in Kentucky, Mich- igan, Ohio and Tennessee and rule on whether states can ban same- sex marriages and refuse to recog- nize those marriages performed in states where they are legal. The same issues are at play in Nebraska. The U.S. Supreme Court has set aside hours this spring to hear those cases and is expected to make a final ruling by early summer.

we have to wait, we have to Nickolas Kramer said at a news conference in Omaha Mon- day afternoon. people say one more day hurt, but one more day could hurt. One more day could be the end of some of our lives. It could be the health issue that puts one of us over the He and his husband, Jason Ca- dek, have talked many, many times about moving, he said, but they love Nebraska. we decided that rather than move to a place that will accept us, we will help Nebraska become a better place for Kram- er said.

Peter Salter and Jonathan Edwards contributed to this report. Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or On Twitter Overturned Continued from A1 than support the rights of children, Judge Bataillon has imposed on the people of Nebraska a new, adult-centric view of mar- they said in a statement issued by the Nebraska Catholic Conference. The bishops called on all Cath- olics and others to continue fasting, and to continue praying for higher courts to affirm plan for marriage and family But Bil Roby and Greg Tubach, plaintiffs in the lawsuit that chal- lenged the ban, said their fight is not one against heterosexual mar- ried couples or the Christian faith. want to get married in the state we call Tubach said during an interview in their Lin- coln home Monday evening. They are the only unmarried couple among the seven who sued the state in Waters v.

Ricketts. Roby and Tubach have been to- gether for 28 years, left Indianap- olis in 2002 and moved to a quiet street in southeast Lincoln to be closer to family. decision brought their relationship a sense of vali- dation, they said. And if the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stay the ruling, Roby and Tubach plan to head to the Lancaster County office next Tuesday to ap- ply for a license.

Roby will be trav- eling Monday. want so badly to be able to move this ring from my right-hand ring finger to my left-hand ring Tubach said, tears filling his eyes. About a dozen members of Vine Congregational United Church of Christ gathered at a south Lincoln home Monday night to celebrate the ruling and to congratulate two of the members who plan to marry next week. Though they held a ceremonial marriage at the church last summer, Kevin Tjeerdsma asked Corey Web- ster on Monday to make it official. Webster, with tears in his eyes, agreed.

Arellano, president of the gay rights group Heartland Pride, said she cried in her car and felt like she forgot how to breathe after she heard the news. ruling shocked her, she said. Stacie Schultz, who married in 2013, celebrated the decision Mon- day night with a shot of Patron te- quila at Panic, a Lincoln gay bar. just glad still alive to celebrate it because a lot of people who she said. Even with marriage rights, some gay rights advocates have expressed concern their new marriages could cause problems in the workplace because Nebraska have anti-discrimination laws.

Merlyn Braunsroth of Pleasant Dale opposes such protections, which he believes violate the reli- gious beliefs of employers. Braun- sroth is retired. He fears redefining marriage could open the door for calls to legalize polygamy or incestuous unions. Mark Olson of Lincoln agrees. They both voted for the 2000 amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

are probably some un- intended consequences that are going to come upon us that going to Olson said. Braunsroth said he believes Ba- decision is yet another milestone in the moral decline. Baier hopes deci- sion survives the appeals court so that all of the plaintiffs, especially Susan and Sally Waters, can have their marriages recognized in Ne- braska. Sally has cancer. For Arellano, decision followed a weekend she spent com- forting friends in Omaha whose gay pride flag was stolen and set on fire.

thought that this was two steps back, when we really jumped forward about a mile or Arel- lano said. Peter Salter and Kevin Abourezk contrib- uted to this report. Reach the writer at 402-473-2657 or Reaction Continued from A1 By KEVIN ABOUREZK Lincoln Journal Star Lancaster County officials are ready and waiting for same-sex couples to apply for marriage li- censes now that a federal judge has overturned ban on same-sex marriage. Two weeks ago, the county office altered its marriage license application forms and signage in its office to be less gender-specific in preparation for a potential ruling from Se- nior U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon overturning Nebras- same-sex marriage ban.

The ruling came down Mon- day morning, with an effective date of March 9. Deputy County Clerk Cori Beattie said she expect her office will need to do much more to be ready. think we would need to change she said. just The office which grants nearly 2,100 marriage li- censes a year was among the first in the state to change its marriage license forms to reflect a possible judicial decision pav- ing the way for same-sex mar- riage in Nebraska. It changed the printed mar- riage license forms and signage from and to and The office put the new forms out for the pub- lic to use but wanted to be ready if a judicial decision came down.

The office did post the new form on its website. County Clerk Dan Nolte said he attempting to make a political statement but simply wanted to be ready. He said his office made the decision on its own and had not received a state directive to do so. want to be able to act as quickly as necessary, not get hung up on he said. He said a change to the coun- marriage certificates and a marriage license keepsake will have to come from the state.

As of Monday afternoon, no same-sex couples had visited his office, though several people had called to inquire about fill- ing out license applications for same-sex marriages. One woman even asked if she could fill out the license appli- cation Monday and return in a week to file the application. The answer: Fill out the ap- plication and file it next week. Lancaster County ready to process same-sex licenses A5Lincoln Journal Star Tuesday, March 3, 2015.