Montana's Governor Has The Gladz

"Today’s decision ensures we are closer to fulfilling our promise of freedom, dignity, and equality for all Montanans. It is a day to celebrate our progress, while recognizing the qualities that bind us as Montanans: a desire to make a good life for ourselves and our families, while providing greater opportunities to the next generation. I have instructed my administration to quickly take all appropriate steps to ensure that we are recognizing and affording the same rights and responsibilities to legally married same-sex couples that all married Montanans have long enjoyed." -  Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D), via press release.

NOTE: Montana Attorney General Tim Fox is a Republican and will likely pursue appeals.

MONTANA: ACLU Files For Summary Judgment In Marriage Equality Case

Via ACLU Montana:

In one of the last remaining steps for Montana to become a marriage equality state, the ACLU of Montana today filed a motion for the U.S. District Court of Montana to rule in favor of four same-sex couples suing for marriage.

“We don’t think there are any material facts in dispute, and so the case can be decided without a trial” says ACLU of Montana Legal Director Jim Taylor. “The ban on same sex marriage in the Montana Constitution is the same as the bans that were ruled unconstitutional in Idaho, and Nevada. The four couples in our case are situated the same as the couples who won in the Idaho and Nevada cases. We are raising the same issues that were raised in the Idaho and Nevada cases, and we are optimistic that the decisions of the Ninth Circuit in those cases will convince the District Court to rule in our favor.”

The Ninth Circuit Court ruled in a unanimous opinion last week that Idaho and Nevada’s bans on marriage for same-sex couples are unconstitutional as discrimination based on sexual orientation under the federal Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. Montana is part of Ninth Circuit and federal district courts here use precedents from that circuit to make rulings.

Democratic Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is a supporter of same-sex marriage. GOP Attorney General Tim Fox is not. In July, Fox asked the court to dismiss the ACLU's case. Of the nine states under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit, only Montana and Arizona remain in play. (Tipped by JMG reader Mike)

MONTANA: First Marriage Suit Filed, Dem Gov. Steve Bullock Welcomes Action

Via the Associated Press:

Four gay couples are suing Montana over its constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. That leaves North Dakota and South Dakota as the only two states with gay marriage bans and no lawsuits seeking to overturn them. The Montana lawsuit was being filed Wednesday in federal court in Great Falls, with help from the Montana ACLU. It lists as plaintiffs four Montana couples who are either unmarried or were married outside the state. The lawsuit alleges the ban denies same-sex couples the freedom and dignity afforded to other Montanans, and denies them the state and federal legal protections and benefits that come with marriage.

The office of Montana Gov. Steve Bullock just sent us his statement.

“Montanans cherish our freedom and recognize the individual dignity of every one of us. The time has come for our state to recognize and celebrate – not discriminate against – two people who love one another, are committed to each other, and want to spend their lives together. I look forward to a future where all Montanans have the opportunity to marry the person they love, just as Lisa and I did almost 15 years ago. We are on the path to greater understanding and equality, and we will all be better for it.”

Bullock, 48, was elected in November 2012. Prior to that he was the Montana Attorney General. Current Montana AG Tim Fox is a Republican. Will we see a showdown?