Clark County to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses today

Finding that Nevada’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage imposes “profound legal, financial, social and psychic harms” on many of its citizens, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned the prohibition, paving the way for gay unions in the Silver State.

The court reversed a U.S. District Court ruling in favor of the state’s voter-approved ban and remanded it back to District Court “for the prompt issuance of an injunction permanently enjoining the state, its political subdivisions, and its officers, employees, and agents” from enforcing the constitutional provision.

The ruling also overturned Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Clark County Clerk Diana Alba said the Marriage Bureau will start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at 2 p.m. today, according to county spokesman Erik Pappa.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals expedited the date when its decision to void Nevada’s same-sex marriage ban will take effect, he said.

The Marriage Bureau is at 201 E. Clark Ave., on the first floor of the Regional Justice Center in downtown Las Vegas.

The challenge to Nevada’s ban was brought by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund on behalf of eight same-sex Nevada couples, four of whom were married elsewhere and want their marriages legalized and four who want to get married in Nevada.

“We are so pleased that wedding bells will finally ring for all same-sex couples in Nevada,” said Tara Borelli, senior attorney at Lambda Legal, who argued the case before the 9th Circuit. “Based on the 9th Circuit’s clear instructions to the trial court, we expect that couples will be able to marry soon.”

The ruling is the latest in a string of appellate court decisions around the country overturning such bans. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to intervene in five states where appellate decisions struck down such bans, including Utah.

Gov. Brian Sandoval and the state of Nevada dropped any opposition to the Lambda challenge earlier this year. The Coalition for the Protection of Marriage, which qualified the ban for the ballot and saw it approved in 2002, was fighting the challenge.

Sandoval said previously that while his own view is that marriage is between a man and a woman, he would abide by the decision of the court on the issue.

“The ruling today confirmed my previous position that the state’s arguments against same-sex marriage are no longer defensible in court,” he said. “I respect the decision of the court.”

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said county clerks could still seek a stay.

“The parties have 14 days to seek reconsideration or seek a stay to file an appeal with the United States Supreme Court,” she said. “County clerks should work with their respective district attorneys on the appropriate course of action.”

The 9th Circuit panel, composed of Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Ronald Murray and Marsha Berzon, ruled unanimously to overturn the bans. Both Reinhardt and Berzon also wrote their own concurring opinions.

Carl Tobias, a Williams Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law and a former Boyd School of Law faculty member, said the panel relied on heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution to invalidate the Nevada and Idaho bans, bringing the number of states where same-sex marriage is legal to 35.

“I doubt that Nevada will appeal,” he said. “Idaho may, but it will be expensive and a long shot, given what (the U.S. Supreme Court) did on Monday.”

In its opinion, the court said: “The lessons of our constitutional history are clear: inclusion strengthens, rather than weakens, our most important institutions. ... When same-sex couples are married, just as when opposite-sex couples are married, they serve as models of loving commitment to all.”

STRONG REACTION

Caren Cafferata-Jenkins, who with partner Farrell Cafferata-Jenkins joined in the Lambda challenge as one of the eight couples, said she was beaming after the decision was issued.

She called the opinion well-written and clear on the issues, not only clarifying the Nevada case but likely to be used as a basis for challenges in other states with similar language.

The argument brought by the coalition that the issue involved parenting rights was found to be absurd by the court, Cafferata-Jenkins said.

“The Equal Protection Clause and the Constitution protect against this kind of discrimination,” she said.

The likelihood that there will be any successful effort to block the ruling is remote, Cafferata-Jenkins said.

“We are just so delighted that finally, after 43 years together, we will soon be able to get married and celebrate our love for and commitment to each other with family and friends in the state we have long called home,” lead plaintiff Beverly Sevcik said.

Added her partner, Mary Baranovich: “When Bev and I met, I must admit we never thought this day would come. But now it’s here, and how sweet it is.”

State Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, called it a big day for Nevada. Since the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take the issue up this term, Nevada will have at least two years to perform gay marriages before the high court could weigh in on the issue in mid-2016.

“They can’t put the genie back in the bottle,” he said. “It’s a done deal.”

State Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, who publicly announced his sexual orientation during a speech on the state Senate floor in the 2013 session, called it a day many Nevadans have been waiting for.

“I always wanted to get married in Nevada,” he said. “I didn’t want to go to another state to get married and come back home and not have our marriage recognized. Now we can get married here sooner rather than later.”

Atkinson said he and partner Sherwood Howard were discussing potential marriage plans, but that Howard “keeps crying” because of his emotions over the court’s ruling.

Not everyone was happy with the decision, though.

Elko resident Janine Hansen, state president of Nevada Eagle Forum and a supporter of the state’s ban, called the ruling “a tragedy of epic proportions.”

“This is a very dark day for our children and our grandchildren who will live in a corrupt society which has rejected the importance of family values,” she said.

The likelihood of getting the decision overturned is nil, Hansen said.

“The will of the people has been overturned by unelected and unaccountable judges,” she said.

STORM OF PAPERWORK

Three months shy of retirement, Clark County Clerk Diana Alba might be facing the biggest storm of paperwork in her 15 years at the county. The same-sex marriage decision is likely to bury her and plenty of other city and county clerks in a torrent of new marriage licenses.

Thankfully, she came prepared.

The longtime county staffer said she and her employees have long since made the switch to gender-neutral marriage license applications, forms she is prepared to issue Wednesday.

Alba, who issues marriage licenses to couples living in both incorporated and unincorporated parts of Clark County, said she had heard from three same-sex couples looking for a marriage license in a 15-minute span Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, a block south of Alba’s marriage bureau, Jessica Church hopes to make Chapelle Delamour the first downtown Las Vegas wedding chapel to host a Southern Nevada same-sex marriage.

Church said her chapel at 255 E. Bonneville Ave. plans to offer free wedding packages to same-sex couples round-the-clock once the county signs off on licenses.

The chapel’s general manager had hoisted a gay pride flag on the building’s facade hours before county officials had even confirmed when they would start issuing same-sex marriage certificates.

The Revs. J. Barry Vaughn and Ian Riddell plan to continue offering their services for free.

Vaughn, an Episcopalian, has been marrying same-sex couples in states that allow it for years. Riddell, a Unitarian, has conducted civil ceremonies for Nevada’s same-sex couples for decades.

Reached at a Tuesday night rally at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, both sounded relieved to have the full force of law behind them at future weddings.

“I think the courts are beginning to recognize that this is an issue of fairness and equality,” Vaughn said. “They’re starting to see this through the eyes of openness and trust, not through the eyes of fear.

“There will be a push back, but I think it’s here to stay. … We’ve gone too far to be pushed back into the closet now.”

Vaughn and Riddell, who made their way into a conference room at the center around 5:30 p.m., were eventually joined by at least 100 other same-sex couples and gay rights advocates. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., Assemblyman James Healey, D-Las Vegas, and state Sen. Pat Spearman, D-North Las Vegas, gave speeches.

Many rally attendees carried red roses, and most were hugging, sometimes embracing complete strangers.

Only one of those on hand was wearing a wedding dress. Alejandra Black legally married her transgender partner, who is legally considered a male, last year.

“It means a lot to me,” Black said through tears, “because four years ago we also had a commitment ceremony and people told us then that we weren’t actually married.

“After today, no one will have to hear those words again.”

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801. Contact James DeHaven at jdehaven@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3839. Find him on Twitter: @JamesDeHaven.