Gay Couples to Sue Over U.S. Marriage Law

I frequently am asked the question of why LGBT couples shouldn't just settle for civil unions or domestic partnerships by those who do not understand that a huge number of laws - over 1,000 in fact - use the word "marriage" in dispensing rights, privileges and benefits. Such being the case, civil unions and domestic partnerships leave same sex couples at a huge disadvantage on many. many fronts. And supporting this huge disparity in rights ad benefits is the federal Defense of Marriage Act which intertwines religious marriage with the civil laws - something that makes a mockery of the nation's alleged freedom of religion for all. Under DOMA, religious freedom extends only to those who conform with a particular religious definition of marriage. DOMA was never about "defending marriage" but all about legalizing religious based discrimination. The New York Times looks at the now two new laws suits pending in the federal courts to end this discriminatory law. Here are highlights (Note the nasty comment from that fat, self-enriching, bigoted cow, Maggie Gallagher):
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The problem is that while Ms. Pedersen is legally married to Ann Meitzen under Connecticut law, federal law does not recognize same-sex unions. So a health insurance matter that is all but automatic for most married people is not allowed for them under federal law.
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Ms. Pedersen and Ms. Meitzen plan to file a lawsuit Tuesday against the government in an effort to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing marriages of same-sex couples. They are plaintiffs in one of two lawsuits being filed by the legal group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, a gay rights legal organization based in Boston, and by the American Civil Liberties Union.
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The two new lawsuits, which involve plaintiffs from New York, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire, expand the attack geographically and also encompass more of the 1,138 federal laws and regulations that the Defense of Marriage Act potentially affects — including the insurance costs amounting to several hundred dollars a month in the case of Ms. Pedersen and Ms. Meitzen, and a $350,0000 estate tax payment in the A.C.L.U. case.
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The civil liberties union filed suit on behalf of Edith S. Windsor, whose spouse, Thea C. Spyer, died last year of aortic stenosis. The two women, New Yorkers who had been together for 44 years, married in Toronto in 2007. New York officially recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other states. Had the two been man and wife, there would have been no federal estate tax to pay.
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Traditionally, Ms. Bonauto noted, the federal government has left the definition of marriage to the states. “The federal government has respected those [state law] determinations, except in the instance of gay and lesbian couples marrying,” she said. The result, she said, is a violation of constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
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Maggie Gallagher, the chairwoman of the National Organization for Marriage, a group that opposes same-sex marriage, said court challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act showed that gay rights advocates “continue to push a primarily court-based strategy of, in our view, inventing rights that neither the founders nor the majority of Americans can recognize in our Constitution.”
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I truly hope the day comes when Christians like Ms. Gallagher are a minority and I and others can vote away her legal rights.