Scroll To Top
Marriage Equality

Guam's Attorney General and Governor Lock Horns Over Marriage Equality

Guam's Attorney General and Governor Lock Horns Over Marriage Equality

Elizabeth-barrett-anderson-x400

The U.S. territory's top legal official wants same-sex couples to receive marriage licenses, but the governor says the matter should be put to a vote.

trudestress

Guam's attorney general today directed the U.S. territory's Department of Public Health and Social Services to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately, but territorial officials are not going along quite yet.

"The Department is advised to treat all same gender marriage applicants with dignity and equality under the Constitution of our nation, and the ruling of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals," said a legal memorandum from Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson to Leo Casil, the health department's acting director, Guam's Pacific Daily News reports. The memo comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit filed Monday by a lesbian couple who were denied a marriage license.

Casil, however, said he would not issue licenses to same-sex couples yet and would await an opinion from Gov. Eddie Calvo. Early this evening in Guam local time, Calvo said any change in marriage policy should be put to a vote, either by legislators or citizens.

"If it is the will of the people of Guam to make same-sex marriage legal on Guam, then the Guam Legislature, the people of Guam's representatives, can take action to change the law, or a referendum can be held giving the people of Guam a direct voice in this issue," read a joint statement from Calvo and Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio, according to the Daily News.

Barrett-Anderson contended that the Ninth Circuit's October ruling striking down marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada meant that Guam could not enforce its ban. Guam, an island in the Pacific Ocean, is part of the Ninth Circuit, where every state now has marriage equality. Another Pacific territory, the Northern Mariana Islands, is in the circuit, but the issue has not come up there.

A lawyer representing Kathleen M. Aguero and Loretta M. Pangelinan, the women who were denied a marriage license last week, said their lawsuit will proceed despite the attorney general's opinion. "Obviously I'm encouraged by what I've heard, but I'm cautious [whether the health department] will actually comply with the attorney general's direction," attorney Todd Thompson told the Daily News.

trudestress
Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.