First the good news: After the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, the Republican Governor of North Dakota, Jack Dalrymple, issued a terse one-sentence statement saying North Dakota will comply.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriage is legal throughout the nation, and we will abide by this federal mandate."
So, that's good. He's not vowing to fight it or to come up with some weird loophole. He understands that sometimes a man-date leads to marriage. More below the orange flickertail.
Some Other Reactions
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) said she was "beyond thrilled" at the decision. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) was "disappointed" because argle bargle one man and one woman. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND at large) groused and called it "another example of activist judges overstepping their authority." The ND Attorney General basically said he'd wait to hear what happened in the ongoing lawsuit (which had been put on hold until after SCOTUS made a decision). But that didn't take very long.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson ruled the state ban on same-sex marriage is invalid and ruled for the plaintiffs (who wanted to get married): ND judge sides with gay marriage lawsuit plaintiffs.
The largest cities in ND started issuing marriage licenses right away: Same-sex couples can get marriage licenses in Grand Forks County; local supporters celebrate. I heard on the radio that a couple of more rural areas were waiting to get advice from their county attorney (or whatever) -- but I'm sure they'll figure it out.
So that's the good news. North Dakotans now have marriage equality. However....
Bad News: Discrimination Is Still Legal
About three months ago, the ND legislature defeated two bills, which passed the Senate but not the House. One bill would have outlawed discrimination against LGBT people in employment and housing. The other would have outlawed discrimination against customers in public accommodations (stores, restaurants, hotels, cake bakeries, pizza places, etc.). Here's the link: ND House kills bill outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation.
North Dakota currently prohibits discrimination due to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, marriage status, or public assistance status. But sexual orientation is not on the list.
I believe the university system, many large employers, and most of the larger cities or counties have various policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. But there is not a state-wide law.
As one gay couple explained after the Supreme Court ruling...
"You can get married on Saturday, have the wedding announcement printed in the paper on Sunday and Monday morning get fired or have an eviction notice on your door."
More Bad News: There Are Still Some Angry People
There are still some bigots, as you might expect. Here's a story from today. All you have to do is read the headline: ND legislator says landmark gay marriage ruling a victory for mentally ill. Remember over 40 years ago, back in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses in their DSM manual? Well, this state representative is still mad about that. He was also one of the legislators who objected to a prayer from a Muslim before the legislature started their day. He calls himself a Christian.