Category Archives: Law

Fight the good fight

Our midwife, Barbara Herrera, is on the news and in the papers these days because her partner Sarah is fighting to get marriage benefits now that they’re legally married.

A few things I love about this case:

  1. it underscores the real difference between marriage and a civil union (they have both now, but marriage gives better benefits);
  2. the county originally granted marriage benefits, but then revoked them citing an “administrative error”;
  3. as the U-T article points out, “There are 1,138 federal provisions and several hundred state provisions where marriage is a factor in determining benefits, rights and responsibilities,” again deflating the “separate but equal” argument.

Gooooo, team!

Gettin’ hitched is all the rage

It looks like the mayor of San Francisco picked up the gauntlet I threw down in a previous posting. As a result of his bravery, San Francisco issued its first marriage license to a gay couple today. Whee!

I love that Phyllis and Del have been together for 51 years. Somehow I don’t think they’re the RNC’s top choice for gay marriage poster children. Go, you wild octogenarians!

A related quote, brought to my attention by Alan: “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. “Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gettin’ hitched, Massachusetts style

Yay! The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples can’t be barred from getting married. Specifically, the court ruled that offering civil unions isn’t enough, so civil marriage must be made available to any couple.

“The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal,” the four justices who ruled in favor of gay marriage wrote in the advisory opinion.

Here’s hoping this is a sign that our legal system will take the bold stance our legislators will not. (Hmmm. That raises an interesting question: can a constitutional amendment be ruled unconstitutional? Or does the Defense Against Marriages By People We Don’t Agree With Amendment receive a get-out-of-court-free card?)

Now, hurry up, California! We’re losing our rep as a progressive state.