On Wednesday, Guam Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson told officials in the U.S. territory to immediately begin processing marriage applications for same-sex couples. Citing a ruling by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, she instructed the Department of Public Health and Social Services to treat "all same gender marriage applicants with dignity and equality under the Constitution."
The acting head of that department, Leo Casil, said that his department won't start accepting applications yet, however, calling Barrett-Anderson's instructions a letter, not a legal opinion. Territory Gov. Eddie Baza Calzo said that the issue should be decided by the Guam Legislature or a public referendum. Barrett-Anderson's direction was in response to a legal challenge from a lesbian couple who applied for a marriage license last week and filed suit in U.S. District Court in Guam on Monday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
What happens if TikTok is banned?Today's Big Question Many are fearful that TikTok's demise could decimate the content creator community
-
The unparalleled leader of the gentle parenting movementIn the Spotlight Dr. Becky became the face of a revolution in how we treat our children
-
One Great Cookbook: Madhur Jaffrey's 'Vegetarian India'The Week Recommends The 2015 tome will reshape how you think about both vegetables and Indian food
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescueSpeed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in MoroccoSpeed Read
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female presidentSpeed Read
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. saysSpeed Read
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprisingSpeed Read
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
