Last week Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage, effective 9/1/09. (My late brother’s birthday–how nice!) This follows closely behind Iowa, which was the third state– after Connecticut and Massachusetts–to allow same sex couples to marry, effective 4/27/09.
California briefly allowed same-sex marriage, but rescinded it in a very contentious referendum (Prop-8) last November which had the effect of changing the State Constitution to forbid same-sex marriage. It was an ugly time to live here and it made me sad and embarrassed to be a Californian.
This all reminds me of the initial purpose I had for starting this entry! It was really just to learn how to embed a You Tube video in a post!
(I’m absolutely certain that in the future I’ll have a post about Bonobos, my favorite primates! I’ll only mention now that they exist in female dominated societies and resolve their differences with sex rather than with violence. There’s a lesson to be learned there, maybe?)
In Vermont, the State House of Representatives overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of marriage equality by a vote of 100-49. This makes Vermont is the first to recognize same-sex marriage legislatively, rather than by judicial fiat. The decision leaves 44 states with laws explicitly prohibiting such marriages, including 30 with constitutional amendments restricting marriage to one man and one woman. The next battlegrounds appear to be New York, Maine, and New Hampshire.
So what’s my opinion on all this? Well, I believe that marriage is a private matter between two individuals and that there should be no laws defining who can marry who. But we don’t live in that world, and there are certain contractual benefits to being recognized as “married.” Not a very romantic idea, but true.
Gay couples should have the same rights as any couple to have the contractual aspects of their relationship respected and enforced: so that if one partner becomes incapacitated, the other has health care decision-rights, property rights, etc. In the world we live in, this means having state governments recognize same-sex marriage.
And that’s all I have to say about that. Well… for now, anyway!
