A good article about equality from the LA Times.
Same-sex marriages gradually gain legal ground
By Carol J. Williams
May 4, 2009
When
Maine's highest court ruled two years ago that lesbians Marilyn Kirby
and Ann Courtney could adopt the two children they had cared for since
2001, the man who has led the state battle against gay marriage for 25
years got a glimpse of the defeat now looming.
"There's a sense people have -- a sense of inevitability -- and a
tremendous sense of frustration because of the history of the gay
rights fight in Maine," said Michael Heath, executive director of the
Maine Family Policy Council.
He was referring to rights incrementally accorded to gay couples that
have led to virtual equality between same-sex and heterosexual unions
-- a significant trend occurring in Maine and other states where gay
marriage remains banned, experts on both sides of the issue agree.
Those rights are expanding as legally married gay couples relocate to
states that don't allow same-sex marriage, forcing courts, legislatures
and employers to deal with the resulting issues of custody, divorce,
inheritance and end-of-life decisions.
The adoption ruling in Maine had the effect of granting parental rights
to same-sex couples. By the time the Legislature adjourns for the
summer, experts expect Maine to become the fifth state to legalize
same-sex marriage -- 11 years after voters banned it.
In New York, which doesn't allow same-sex marriages but recognizes
those conducted elsewhere, recent court decisions have granted a
divorce to two gay men and surviving spouse benefits to another.
In California, federal judges have twice overruled decisions by the
federal government to deny healthcare coverage to gay employees' legal
spouses, teeing up a constitutional challenge to the 1996 Defense of
Marriage Act, which forbids federal benefits for same-sex couples.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and
Massachusetts, which began the trend five years ago. (Iowa issued its
first marriage licenses April 27, a few weeks after its Supreme Court
gave approval; weddings in Vermont will begin in September.) Within a
year, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York will probably
follow suit, say sexual orientation scholars at the UCLA School of
Law's Williams Institute; New Hampshire's Senate approved a same-sex
marriage bill Wednesday.
And as more same-sex couples wed in places where it is legal, the
administrative fallout in other states is expected to keep expanding.
"The courts are going to have to wrestle with these issues as more and
more states make it possible for people to marry," said Toni Broaddus,
executive director of the San Francisco-based Equality Federation.
"People don't stay in the same state for their whole lives anymore, so
the courts in states without marriage equality are going to have to
address these issues."
The recent moves in New England and the heartland to legalize gay
marriage appeared to reinvigorate campaigns for passage of same-sex
marriage bills in Maine, Maryland and Hawaii. Rights advocates predict
the tide will eventually sweep even into some of the 30-plus states
that have passed laws or constitutional amendments defining marriage as
between a man and a woman.
"A body of law is emerging because it has no choice. Cases have been
filed and they have to be decided one way or another," said Joseph
Milizio, a Long Island lawyer specializing in gay and lesbian
representation.
The legal developments allow people to become comfortable with "the
fact that gay marriage is going to be recognized in many different
aspects, even in states that don't allow it," said Milizio, whose firm
recently secured the first dissolution of a same-sex marriage in New
York.
In the workplace, proponents of extending spousal rights such as
healthcare benefits and life insurance to same-sex couples have
succeeded by challenging employment practices that discriminate on the
basis of sexual orientation. Seven states, including California, now
guarantee full equality to same-sex couples -- another incremental
advance that is lamented by opponents.
"These are serious cases of widespread importance, where we see
same-sex couples attempting to use the laws of another state to push
their agenda in a state that does not recognize their union," said Jim
Campbell, litigation counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian
legal organization.
"This is a danger that will spread to all states but will not
necessarily result in same-sex marriage in all states," Campbell said,
noting that opponents will continue to press their elected officials to
reject same-sex marriage initiatives.
Julaine Appling, executive director of Wisconsin Family Action, agrees,
saying her group "has always taken the position that these kinds of
decisions should be made in the Legislature, where they can be fully
vetted and can have public opinion given."
One state where the recent domino effect has been measurable is Hawaii.
A same-sex marriage bill failed in the Senate but by a far narrower
margin than previous votes, and efforts are underway to tinker with the
wording to win majority acceptance.
Gay rights proponents credit the change in public and political
attitudes to the state's adoption a dozen years ago of a "reciprocal
beneficiaries" policy, allowing any two people who can't be legally
married -- gay couples, blood relatives -- to designate each other as
beneficiary of all rights and responsibilities accorded married couples.
Though still few in number, the states recognizing same-sex unions
are home to nearly a third of the U.S. population, said Gary Gates,
senior research fellow at the Williams Institute. He estimates that at
least a quarter of the 780,000 same-sex couples married or registered
in civil unions across the country are raising children, boosting the
likelihood of legal challenges to secure equal protection from
insurers, employers and the government for their families.
The federal ban on benefits to same-sex spouses remains in effect, said
Brad Sears, executive director of the Williams Institute. But he added
that President Obama has spoken out against the statute and suggested
that it should be revoked by Congress or challenged in court on
constitutional grounds.
Time is also a necessary element to achieving marriage equality throughout the country, Sears said.
"The more the rights of same-sex couples are recognized, the less
credible are arguments about potential bad or harmful things that might
happen if they are recognized," he said.
carol.williams@latimes.com