Getting married is stressful. A psychological study puts it among the top ten most stressful life events. Imagine the added stress of a last minute opportunity to get married overseas. Then add to that the complication that it's not legal to get married where you live, making your wedding a political statement as well as a personal decision. That's the situation facing Stephan Hengst and Patrick Decker, a gay couple who, so far, are still laughing and taking it in stride. Hudson Valley bureau chief Susan Barnett reports.
Depending on how you look at it, it's a fairy tale or it's a nightmare. Stephan Hengst and Patrick Decker of Dutchess County are pulling their wedding reception together at the last minute. They've talked about getting married, but the founders of the website BigGayHudsonValley.com who are equal marriage rights advocates had said they'd wait until NYS made it legal. Then Stephan says they heard about a contest.
They went home, they looked, and they found Ido.IAmsterdam. The guidelines were almost ridiculous. One partner had to be Dutch. One had to be from NY. What were the odds? But Hegnst was born in Holland. After applications, essays and phone calls, they found out they'd been chosen.
So they're getting married August first in a massive gay pride event, taking their vows on a wedding barge in Amsterdam, picking up their rings, writing their vows, and pulling together a reception for their friends at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie...the former estate of Samuel Morse. Their friend Ken Snodgrass is executive director and he says the fact that Stephan, Patrick and many of their friends are chefs makes this pretty simple.
Stephan says he hopes their wedding, which many of their friends found out about when there was a picture of them in the NY Times at the Gay Pride Parade, helps push the NY Senate to finally approve an equal marriage rights bill that's already passed the Assembly.
As Stephan speaks, Patrick picks a piece of lint off his shoulder. It's the kind of intimate gesture that speaks volumes. But the romantic proposal kind of went by the wayside in the whirlwind surrounding the Amsterdam opportunity.
Not everyone's been supportive.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1533682
Susan Barnett (2009-07-23)
HUDSON VALLEY, NY (WAMC) -
July 10, 2009
What the State Senate Democratic Win Means
The Legislature's upper chamber back at work, its agenda a matter of heated speculation
With Democratic control of the New York State Senate once again secured, the Legislature’s upper chamber can, after a one-month deadlock, finally turn its attention to some of the year’s most highly contested questions –– issues ranging from mayoral control of schools to marriage equality.
What remains unclear, however –– even after a July 9 press conference by Democratic leaders and an extraordinary midnight release from top Democratic and Republican senators –– is how the promised commitment to reform will take shape in specific rules changes and what impact that will have on prospects for a marriage equality vote in the near term.
Senator Thomas K. Duane, the out gay Chelsea Democrat who is the lead same-sex marriage sponsor –– as well as the helmsman on other key LGBT initiatives such as a transgender civil rights bill and a school anti-bullying measure –– put out a statement immediately after the restoration of Democratic control was announced, saying, “As disappointing as it is to admit, it is clear that this week is not the right moment for same-sex marriage legislation. Senators need some time and distance to regroup after this month’s partisan-charged and explosive atmosphere.”
That statement hastened to add, however, that the Senate would “be called back to Albany” in “the weeks and months ahead,” at which time he would “fight for and demand, with bipartisan support, that bills important to the LGBT community come to the floor for a vote –– and pass.”
In a telephone interview with Gay City News the same evening, Duane said he expected action not only on marriage equality, already approved by the Assembly and supported by Governor David Paterson, but also on the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act and the Dignity for All Students Act. The marriage bill, he said confidently, “will get to the floor this year and it will pass.”
In the immediate term, Duane explained, only time-sensitive issues that must be acted on quickly –– such as the one-half cent increase in New York City’s sales tax approved in a late-night July 9 session –– would be taken up by the Senate.
On the morning of July 10, the Empire State Pride Agenda, the state’s LGBT rights lobby, issued a written statement backing Duane’s insistence that critical matters of concern to the community get action in the next few weeks.
“We expect that our equality will remain at the top of the chamber’s agenda,” ESPA’s executive director, Alan Van Capelle, said. “Senators from both sides of the aisle have repeatedly said this past month that reform and doing the people’s business were central to the events that transpired. Our equality is the people’s business; reform means scheduling votes on our issues so senators can vote their conscience. “
As the July 9 Senate session spilled out past midnight, a bipartisan statement –– signed by Democrats Malcolm Smith, identified as the Senate president, Pedro Espada, as majority leader, and John Sampson, as Democratic conference leader, and Republican Minority Leader Dean Skelos –– articulated goals long sought by reformers, particularly those interested in moving progressive legislation blocked in recent years by the former GOP leadership.
Those reforms, the statement read, “give each individual senator the means to effectively represent their constituents and assure each senator will be treated fairly and with respect so they can do their jobs to the best of their ability. The rules will empower the membership and enable all 62 members a greater opportunity to get their bills moved out of committees and onto the floor for a vote.”
Manhattan Senator Eric Schneiderman, a key reform advocate and strong marriage equality booster, said he will need to see the specifics of rules changes that could be voted on as early as next week before deciding whether he agrees that they truly open up the process of bringing legislation to the floor without first winning leadership’s blessing.
Duane has for several months said he had commitments from a sufficient number of senators to win approval of marriage equality legislation, so reform, done the right way, would presumably give him at least one sure avenue of getting a vote.
The other way, of course, would be for the Senate leadership, now that the deadlock is over, to move the measure itself. The leadership’s commitment to do that has been a matter of considerable speculation dating back to last fall when the first threats of defection came from some in the Democratic caucus. Among the Democrats who warned they might block Smith’s original selection as Senate leader was the Reverend Ruben Diaz, a stridently anti-gay Bronx Pentecostal minister who said he could not support any leader who would allow a marriage equality vote.
Smith put down that initial challenge by New Year’s Day, but Diaz was a highly visible player during the chaotic last few days leading up his Bronx colleague Espada’s return to the Democratic fold –– and he was right out front as the new leadership team was announced at the July 9 press conference. In fact, only 12 of the 32 Democrats were present at their party’s moment of triumph –– and several prominent Manhattan progressives who are among the strongest marriage equality advocates, including Duane, Schneiderman, Liz Krueger, and Daniel Squadron, were absent.
Duane cautioned against reading anything into who did and did not attend the victory lap at the Capitol. Asked whether the possibility that Diaz may have played a role in forging the new Democratic conference agreement caused him concern, Duane emphasized that he was looking to Governor Paterson’s leadership in making certain that marriage equality, transgender rights, and anti-bullying get votes this year. His most recent meeting with the governor on those matters, he said, may have been going on as Smith, Espada, Diaz, and nine other of his colleagues stood before the press.
“I have spoken to the governor several times in the past week, and he has re-emphasized his interest in moving marriage this year,” Duane told Gay City News. “We are going to strategize on how to move marriage this year, and we will get that done.”
Paterson’s ability to influence the Senate agenda, Duane said, would come in part from his continuing to call the chamber into extraordinary session, as he has been doing since shortly after the deadlock began June 8.
Senate Democrats, however, were among those who challenged the governor’s authority in calling them back in the manner he did, and Paterson’s office on July 10 said it was uncertain how he would proceed on that issue now that the Senate has reestablished an operating authority. The session on July 9 was an ordinary meeting of the Senate, and if the chamber takes up rules reform next week, that too is expected to take place in a regular session.
Harlem Democratic Senator Bill Perkins, a staunch marriage equality ally, was among those who did attend the July 9 press conference, and he is convinced that the Senate is “moving in the direction” of genuine reform on issues such as senators being able to get votes on their legislation. That’s important to him not only on marriage equality, but on other issues such as vacancy decontrol under the city’s rent stabilization law.
Asked specifically about the fact that Diaz is a marriage equality foe and Espada has been viewed as an ally of landlord interests, Perkins, discussing how the Democratic majority was cobbled back together, said, “There was no discussion that I’ve heard about that this is what we are doing and this is not what we’re doing,”
Perkins also emphasized, “The leadership has for some time made a commitment on gay marriage and the majority of members are supportive, notwithstanding the opposition of some."
Schneiderman said he did not believe Diaz had won any concessions in recent days guaranteeing no vote on marriage. He warned, however, that the bipartisan comity that might have allowed for cooperation on issues like marriage equality prior to June 8 has been severely frayed over the past month.
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
http://www.chelseanow.com/articles/2009/07/10/gay_city_news/news/doc4a577f4ab7f1d371841295.txt
With Democratic control of the New York State Senate once again secured, the Legislature’s upper chamber can, after a one-month deadlock, finally turn its attention to some of the year’s most highly contested questions –– issues ranging from mayoral control of schools to marriage equality.
What remains unclear, however –– even after a July 9 press conference by Democratic leaders and an extraordinary midnight release from top Democratic and Republican senators –– is how the promised commitment to reform will take shape in specific rules changes and what impact that will have on prospects for a marriage equality vote in the near term.
Senator Thomas K. Duane, the out gay Chelsea Democrat who is the lead same-sex marriage sponsor –– as well as the helmsman on other key LGBT initiatives such as a transgender civil rights bill and a school anti-bullying measure –– put out a statement immediately after the restoration of Democratic control was announced, saying, “As disappointing as it is to admit, it is clear that this week is not the right moment for same-sex marriage legislation. Senators need some time and distance to regroup after this month’s partisan-charged and explosive atmosphere.”
That statement hastened to add, however, that the Senate would “be called back to Albany” in “the weeks and months ahead,” at which time he would “fight for and demand, with bipartisan support, that bills important to the LGBT community come to the floor for a vote –– and pass.”
In a telephone interview with Gay City News the same evening, Duane said he expected action not only on marriage equality, already approved by the Assembly and supported by Governor David Paterson, but also on the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act and the Dignity for All Students Act. The marriage bill, he said confidently, “will get to the floor this year and it will pass.”
In the immediate term, Duane explained, only time-sensitive issues that must be acted on quickly –– such as the one-half cent increase in New York City’s sales tax approved in a late-night July 9 session –– would be taken up by the Senate.
On the morning of July 10, the Empire State Pride Agenda, the state’s LGBT rights lobby, issued a written statement backing Duane’s insistence that critical matters of concern to the community get action in the next few weeks.
“We expect that our equality will remain at the top of the chamber’s agenda,” ESPA’s executive director, Alan Van Capelle, said. “Senators from both sides of the aisle have repeatedly said this past month that reform and doing the people’s business were central to the events that transpired. Our equality is the people’s business; reform means scheduling votes on our issues so senators can vote their conscience. “
As the July 9 Senate session spilled out past midnight, a bipartisan statement –– signed by Democrats Malcolm Smith, identified as the Senate president, Pedro Espada, as majority leader, and John Sampson, as Democratic conference leader, and Republican Minority Leader Dean Skelos –– articulated goals long sought by reformers, particularly those interested in moving progressive legislation blocked in recent years by the former GOP leadership.
Those reforms, the statement read, “give each individual senator the means to effectively represent their constituents and assure each senator will be treated fairly and with respect so they can do their jobs to the best of their ability. The rules will empower the membership and enable all 62 members a greater opportunity to get their bills moved out of committees and onto the floor for a vote.”
Manhattan Senator Eric Schneiderman, a key reform advocate and strong marriage equality booster, said he will need to see the specifics of rules changes that could be voted on as early as next week before deciding whether he agrees that they truly open up the process of bringing legislation to the floor without first winning leadership’s blessing.
Duane has for several months said he had commitments from a sufficient number of senators to win approval of marriage equality legislation, so reform, done the right way, would presumably give him at least one sure avenue of getting a vote.
The other way, of course, would be for the Senate leadership, now that the deadlock is over, to move the measure itself. The leadership’s commitment to do that has been a matter of considerable speculation dating back to last fall when the first threats of defection came from some in the Democratic caucus. Among the Democrats who warned they might block Smith’s original selection as Senate leader was the Reverend Ruben Diaz, a stridently anti-gay Bronx Pentecostal minister who said he could not support any leader who would allow a marriage equality vote.
Smith put down that initial challenge by New Year’s Day, but Diaz was a highly visible player during the chaotic last few days leading up his Bronx colleague Espada’s return to the Democratic fold –– and he was right out front as the new leadership team was announced at the July 9 press conference. In fact, only 12 of the 32 Democrats were present at their party’s moment of triumph –– and several prominent Manhattan progressives who are among the strongest marriage equality advocates, including Duane, Schneiderman, Liz Krueger, and Daniel Squadron, were absent.
Duane cautioned against reading anything into who did and did not attend the victory lap at the Capitol. Asked whether the possibility that Diaz may have played a role in forging the new Democratic conference agreement caused him concern, Duane emphasized that he was looking to Governor Paterson’s leadership in making certain that marriage equality, transgender rights, and anti-bullying get votes this year. His most recent meeting with the governor on those matters, he said, may have been going on as Smith, Espada, Diaz, and nine other of his colleagues stood before the press.
“I have spoken to the governor several times in the past week, and he has re-emphasized his interest in moving marriage this year,” Duane told Gay City News. “We are going to strategize on how to move marriage this year, and we will get that done.”
Paterson’s ability to influence the Senate agenda, Duane said, would come in part from his continuing to call the chamber into extraordinary session, as he has been doing since shortly after the deadlock began June 8.
Senate Democrats, however, were among those who challenged the governor’s authority in calling them back in the manner he did, and Paterson’s office on July 10 said it was uncertain how he would proceed on that issue now that the Senate has reestablished an operating authority. The session on July 9 was an ordinary meeting of the Senate, and if the chamber takes up rules reform next week, that too is expected to take place in a regular session.
Harlem Democratic Senator Bill Perkins, a staunch marriage equality ally, was among those who did attend the July 9 press conference, and he is convinced that the Senate is “moving in the direction” of genuine reform on issues such as senators being able to get votes on their legislation. That’s important to him not only on marriage equality, but on other issues such as vacancy decontrol under the city’s rent stabilization law.
Asked specifically about the fact that Diaz is a marriage equality foe and Espada has been viewed as an ally of landlord interests, Perkins, discussing how the Democratic majority was cobbled back together, said, “There was no discussion that I’ve heard about that this is what we are doing and this is not what we’re doing,”
Perkins also emphasized, “The leadership has for some time made a commitment on gay marriage and the majority of members are supportive, notwithstanding the opposition of some."
Schneiderman said he did not believe Diaz had won any concessions in recent days guaranteeing no vote on marriage. He warned, however, that the bipartisan comity that might have allowed for cooperation on issues like marriage equality prior to June 8 has been severely frayed over the past month.
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
http://www.chelseanow.com/articles/2009/07/10/gay_city_news/news/doc4a577f4ab7f1d371841295.txt
July 07, 2009
Same-sex unions a challenge for Census
The Census Bureau faces logistical challenges next year in classifying legally married same-sex couples as married.
The agency has said that the 2010 Census will report the number of married same-sex couples for the first time, a decision that thrills gay-rights advocates. It may seem like a simple change, but adjusting how the Census tallies people is not a simple matter, requiring everything from redesigning computer programs to testing accuracy.
"The Census questionnaire has not evolved as quickly as America has," says Nick Kimball, spokesman for the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau.
Since the 2000 Census, anyone who reported being married to someone of the same gender automatically has been reclassified as an "unmarried partner." In 2000, no state allowed same-sex marriages. The federal Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Today, six states allow same-sex marriage. Last month, the Obama administration extended some job benefits to gay partners of federal workers and said it wants to ensure that same-sex couples "are accurately reflected in Census reports."
Government lawyers have determined that the federal marriage act does not prohibit the Census from reporting how many same-sex couples say they are married.
"There are thousands of married couples across the country who are same-sex couples," says Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which has been pushing for Census recognition. "I happen to be one of them."
If the Census uses current methods, it would "unmarry people who checked off 'married couples,' " — even in states where same-sex marriage is legal, Carey says.
The Census has been exploring ways to count this relatively new population for a few years, but the pressure to do it by 2010 is mounting. The government has been meeting with gay rights advocates, statisticians and others to study the change.
Some of the challenges:
• Changing the software that processes Census questionnaires so that it doesn't automatically convert same-sex married couples to unmarried partners. Census is not confident it can make the change by 2010.
• The federal marriage act may not apply to the Census but it does apply to every other federal agency that uses Census data to dole out federal funds and enforce fair housing and equal opportunity laws.
• Any change in the way the Census is tabulated has a domino effect on most other data collected. Counting same-sex couples as married stretches the definition of family. Data used by all federal agencies — from family income to family size — would have to be reclassified.
"We know for certain the vast majority (of same-sex couples) are not legally married," says Gary Gates, demographer at UCLA's Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy.
Gates estimates 35,000 same-sex couples are married, but recent surveys show that 10 times as many report that they are.
How the Census will report its findings is still to be decided. "This is an important issue and legitimate question that we're working to resolve," Kimball says.
"We will certainly be holding them to this policy change," Carey says.
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Contributing: Paul Overberg
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-07-05-samesexcensus_N.htm
The agency has said that the 2010 Census will report the number of married same-sex couples for the first time, a decision that thrills gay-rights advocates. It may seem like a simple change, but adjusting how the Census tallies people is not a simple matter, requiring everything from redesigning computer programs to testing accuracy.
"The Census questionnaire has not evolved as quickly as America has," says Nick Kimball, spokesman for the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau.
Since the 2000 Census, anyone who reported being married to someone of the same gender automatically has been reclassified as an "unmarried partner." In 2000, no state allowed same-sex marriages. The federal Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Today, six states allow same-sex marriage. Last month, the Obama administration extended some job benefits to gay partners of federal workers and said it wants to ensure that same-sex couples "are accurately reflected in Census reports."
Government lawyers have determined that the federal marriage act does not prohibit the Census from reporting how many same-sex couples say they are married.
"There are thousands of married couples across the country who are same-sex couples," says Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which has been pushing for Census recognition. "I happen to be one of them."
If the Census uses current methods, it would "unmarry people who checked off 'married couples,' " — even in states where same-sex marriage is legal, Carey says.
The Census has been exploring ways to count this relatively new population for a few years, but the pressure to do it by 2010 is mounting. The government has been meeting with gay rights advocates, statisticians and others to study the change.
Some of the challenges:
• Changing the software that processes Census questionnaires so that it doesn't automatically convert same-sex married couples to unmarried partners. Census is not confident it can make the change by 2010.
• The federal marriage act may not apply to the Census but it does apply to every other federal agency that uses Census data to dole out federal funds and enforce fair housing and equal opportunity laws.
• Any change in the way the Census is tabulated has a domino effect on most other data collected. Counting same-sex couples as married stretches the definition of family. Data used by all federal agencies — from family income to family size — would have to be reclassified.
"We know for certain the vast majority (of same-sex couples) are not legally married," says Gary Gates, demographer at UCLA's Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy.
Gates estimates 35,000 same-sex couples are married, but recent surveys show that 10 times as many report that they are.
How the Census will report its findings is still to be decided. "This is an important issue and legitimate question that we're working to resolve," Kimball says.
"We will certainly be holding them to this policy change," Carey says.
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Contributing: Paul Overberg
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-07-05-samesexcensus_N.htm
D.C. gay marriage law takes effect
City recognizes same-sex unions performed in other states
Same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries became legal in the District of Columbia at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, when Congress completed its 30 legislative day review of a marriage recognition law passed by the D.C. City Council in May.
Gay activists hailed the development as an historic landmark for same-sex couples throughout the country and noted that it opens the way for the Council to pass a separate law later this year allowing same-sex marriages to be performed in the District.
“I think there’s tremendous significance and opportunity in Americans seeing legally married gay couples treated with respect in our nation’s capital,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom To Marry, a national same-sex marriage advocacy group.
The measure that took effect Tuesday, the Jury and Marriage Amendment Act of 2009, immediately provides the city’s same-sex couples married in other jurisdictions with more than 200 rights, benefits, and obligations associated with marriage under D.C. law.
Similar to six other U.S. states that have legalized same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian married couples in D.C. won’t be able to receive any of the more than 1,100 federal rights and benefits that come with marriage.
Federal marital rights and benefits are denied to same-sex couples under the 1996 U.S. Defense of Marriage Act.
D.C. research consultant Jeff Krehely, 32, who married local attorney Trevor Blake, 31, in Massachusetts in July 2006, said the city’s marriage recognition law took effect as he and Blake prepare to celebrate their third wedding anniversary on July 31. The two live in the city’s U Street, N.W., corridor, which has become a popular neighborhood for gays.
“We’re really happy about our place that we call home is recognizing our relationship,” he said. “We think it’s a great step for the District to be taking.”
The city’s sweeping domestic partnership law provides nearly all of the D.C. rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex and opposite sex domestic partners who register their relationship with the city.
But many activists consider domestic partnerships and civil unions — another form of legal recognition for same-sex couples — to be a “separate and unequal” status that denies full equality for same-sex couples that activists say can only come with the right to marry.
Spokespersons for D.C. Council members Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), the lead sponsor of the same-sex marriage recognition law, and Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), a longtime advocate of same-sex marriage, said no implementing rules would be needed for the city to carry out the marriage recognition law.
A spokesperson for Mayor Adrian Fenty, who signed the law one day after the Council approved it on May 5 by a vote of 12-1, could not be immediately reached for comment.
City Hall sources said D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles was preparing a memorandum for the heads of city departments and agencies reminding them that the law went into effect Tuesday and that they should be prepared to provide same-sex couples with all the rights and benefits of marriage that have long gone to heterosexual married couples.
“This is a change and we need to make sure that people in the bureaucracy understand it,” said Rick Rosendall, vice president of the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance.
“And it’s not just in government,” he said. “If your spouse is in the hospital or in some other way the issue comes up, you want to make sure the fact that you’re married is understood and respected without having to produce a copy of the law.”
The law took effect one week after a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Maryland minister and six supporters seeking to put the law on hold until they completed requirements to overturn the measure through a voter referendum.
Judge Judith Retchin, in a 15-page decision, upheld an earlier ruling by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics that a referendum seeking to block the same-sex marriage recognition measure would violate the city’s Human Rights Act. The election board and Retchin each ruled that the referendum could not be held because it would violate the human rights law’s provision banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., vowed to continue his efforts to oppose same-sex marriage in the District, saying he and his supporters would seek to overturn the law in the coming months through a voter initiative.
Elections board officials joined gay D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At Large) in pointing out that an initiative would likely be disqualified for the same reason the referendum was — it would violate the human rights law.
Catania, meanwhile, has said he plans to introduce a full same-sex marriage bill into the Council later this year that would allow same-sex marriages to be performed in the city. He has declined to release a specific date for introducing the legislation, but Council sources have said Catania was expected to introduce it shortly after the Council returns from its summer recess in September.
No serious attempt to block the law recognizing same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions has surfaced so far in the Democratic controlled Congress. Congress has authority to pass or repeal any D.C. law under the city’s limited Home Rule charter.
Capitol Hill observers expect lawmakers who oppose same-sex marriage to introduce a repeal measure later this year in the form of an amendment to the D.C. appropriations bill, which Congress approves each year.
David Smith, vice president of the Human Rights Campaign, said his organization is hopeful that Democratic leaders in the House and Senate would line up enough support to block any attempt to overturn the D.C. marriage recognition law.
Wolfson of Freedom to Marry said the full same-sex marriage rights bill that Catania is expected to introduce in the fall would likely receive a greater degree of opposition in Congress than the measure recognizing marriages from other jurisdictions.
“One thing people really need to understand is that while we want to continue the advance in the District and other places, it’s only going to happen if we really build public support,” Wolfson said.
He noted that the work done so far by the local advocacy group D.C. For Marriage played an important role in laying the groundwork for the same-sex marriage recognition law that took effect Tuesday.
D.C. gay activist Michael Crawford, the group’s president, said the group plans to continue its community meetings in city neighborhoods, where same-sex couples and their supporters will provide first-hand stories about their relationships and the need for full marriage equality.
“That needs to be ratcheted up five times as much in order to build support in the District to prevent the right wing from pushing a ballot measure that will try to take it away,” Wolfson said. “We will see more opposition with the marriage bill than we did so far with the [recognition] bill. And though I believe we can win, it’s not going to happen just because the City Council passes a law. We have to work for it.”
By LOU CHIBBARO JR, Washington Blade
Jul 7 2009, 9:42 AM |
http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=26072
Same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries became legal in the District of Columbia at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, when Congress completed its 30 legislative day review of a marriage recognition law passed by the D.C. City Council in May.
Gay activists hailed the development as an historic landmark for same-sex couples throughout the country and noted that it opens the way for the Council to pass a separate law later this year allowing same-sex marriages to be performed in the District.
“I think there’s tremendous significance and opportunity in Americans seeing legally married gay couples treated with respect in our nation’s capital,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom To Marry, a national same-sex marriage advocacy group.
The measure that took effect Tuesday, the Jury and Marriage Amendment Act of 2009, immediately provides the city’s same-sex couples married in other jurisdictions with more than 200 rights, benefits, and obligations associated with marriage under D.C. law.
Similar to six other U.S. states that have legalized same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian married couples in D.C. won’t be able to receive any of the more than 1,100 federal rights and benefits that come with marriage.
Federal marital rights and benefits are denied to same-sex couples under the 1996 U.S. Defense of Marriage Act.
D.C. research consultant Jeff Krehely, 32, who married local attorney Trevor Blake, 31, in Massachusetts in July 2006, said the city’s marriage recognition law took effect as he and Blake prepare to celebrate their third wedding anniversary on July 31. The two live in the city’s U Street, N.W., corridor, which has become a popular neighborhood for gays.
“We’re really happy about our place that we call home is recognizing our relationship,” he said. “We think it’s a great step for the District to be taking.”
The city’s sweeping domestic partnership law provides nearly all of the D.C. rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex and opposite sex domestic partners who register their relationship with the city.
But many activists consider domestic partnerships and civil unions — another form of legal recognition for same-sex couples — to be a “separate and unequal” status that denies full equality for same-sex couples that activists say can only come with the right to marry.
Spokespersons for D.C. Council members Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), the lead sponsor of the same-sex marriage recognition law, and Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), a longtime advocate of same-sex marriage, said no implementing rules would be needed for the city to carry out the marriage recognition law.
A spokesperson for Mayor Adrian Fenty, who signed the law one day after the Council approved it on May 5 by a vote of 12-1, could not be immediately reached for comment.
City Hall sources said D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles was preparing a memorandum for the heads of city departments and agencies reminding them that the law went into effect Tuesday and that they should be prepared to provide same-sex couples with all the rights and benefits of marriage that have long gone to heterosexual married couples.
“This is a change and we need to make sure that people in the bureaucracy understand it,” said Rick Rosendall, vice president of the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance.
“And it’s not just in government,” he said. “If your spouse is in the hospital or in some other way the issue comes up, you want to make sure the fact that you’re married is understood and respected without having to produce a copy of the law.”
The law took effect one week after a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Maryland minister and six supporters seeking to put the law on hold until they completed requirements to overturn the measure through a voter referendum.
Judge Judith Retchin, in a 15-page decision, upheld an earlier ruling by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics that a referendum seeking to block the same-sex marriage recognition measure would violate the city’s Human Rights Act. The election board and Retchin each ruled that the referendum could not be held because it would violate the human rights law’s provision banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., vowed to continue his efforts to oppose same-sex marriage in the District, saying he and his supporters would seek to overturn the law in the coming months through a voter initiative.
Elections board officials joined gay D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At Large) in pointing out that an initiative would likely be disqualified for the same reason the referendum was — it would violate the human rights law.
Catania, meanwhile, has said he plans to introduce a full same-sex marriage bill into the Council later this year that would allow same-sex marriages to be performed in the city. He has declined to release a specific date for introducing the legislation, but Council sources have said Catania was expected to introduce it shortly after the Council returns from its summer recess in September.
No serious attempt to block the law recognizing same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions has surfaced so far in the Democratic controlled Congress. Congress has authority to pass or repeal any D.C. law under the city’s limited Home Rule charter.
Capitol Hill observers expect lawmakers who oppose same-sex marriage to introduce a repeal measure later this year in the form of an amendment to the D.C. appropriations bill, which Congress approves each year.
David Smith, vice president of the Human Rights Campaign, said his organization is hopeful that Democratic leaders in the House and Senate would line up enough support to block any attempt to overturn the D.C. marriage recognition law.
Wolfson of Freedom to Marry said the full same-sex marriage rights bill that Catania is expected to introduce in the fall would likely receive a greater degree of opposition in Congress than the measure recognizing marriages from other jurisdictions.
“One thing people really need to understand is that while we want to continue the advance in the District and other places, it’s only going to happen if we really build public support,” Wolfson said.
He noted that the work done so far by the local advocacy group D.C. For Marriage played an important role in laying the groundwork for the same-sex marriage recognition law that took effect Tuesday.
D.C. gay activist Michael Crawford, the group’s president, said the group plans to continue its community meetings in city neighborhoods, where same-sex couples and their supporters will provide first-hand stories about their relationships and the need for full marriage equality.
“That needs to be ratcheted up five times as much in order to build support in the District to prevent the right wing from pushing a ballot measure that will try to take it away,” Wolfson said. “We will see more opposition with the marriage bill than we did so far with the [recognition] bill. And though I believe we can win, it’s not going to happen just because the City Council passes a law. We have to work for it.”
By LOU CHIBBARO JR, Washington Blade
Jul 7 2009, 9:42 AM |
http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=26072
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