Today, the United States Supreme Court declared that the federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA (1996) is unconstitutional -- that legally married same-sex couples cannot be discriminated against in terms of taxes, social security, and about 1000 other advantages and benefits granted to married couples by federal law.
The Court also sent the case of California's Proposition 8 back to the district court where judges backed the state’s top officials who have said same-sex marriage is a matter of equal rights.
It is a good day. Not a great day, but still, a very good day.
It will be a great day when all people have the right to marry whomever they choose; when the government removes itself from the business of marriage; when marriage becomes a matter of personal choice. That day is not yet, but it is closer because of today's Court rulings, and the work done by so many to bring us to this point.
Today, fair minded people ought to join our LGBTQ friends and neighbors in celebrating the victories won. Tomorrow, the battle continues.
swan
And from what I can understand there's gonna be a mountain of work to do .............. but I do celebrate with you and hope that one day (probably not in my life time) people will be accepting of all life styles :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy. My son just called to tell me he heard Edie Windsor just speak. He and his boyfriend will marry in November! A great day for sure.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
PK
PK -- please do offer your son and his love the congratulations and best wishes of the Heron Clan.
Deleteswan
yeahhh!
ReplyDeleteMinnesota, U.S.A., is open and welcomes loving adults to marry in our state. Last November a state-wide election defeated a Constitutional amendment to define marriage as one man and one woman, which had been funded by the affiliates of the Republican party and the Catholic and Mormon churches. Last month the State Legislature passed a bill, which was signed into law by the governor, removing the restrictions in law that prohibited all except one man and one woman to a civil marriage. Today, the United States Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which had restricted every federal program, tax, and law to married couples only consisting of one man and one woman. On August 1, the effective date of the Minnesota Marriage Equality Act, all gay and lesbian couples withing the borders of the State of Minnesota qualify for and may be married, with full rights and benefits of state law including, with the invalidation of DOMA, the full rights and benefits of federal law. The deeply held religious beliefs of gays and lesbians regarding marriage are now equal to every other person's deeply held religious beliefs regarding marriage. The competition among wedding service and facility providers has already begun and will greatly add to the economy and, consequently, the tax base of Minnesota. Minnesota has now become as great an institution and example of human rights as Canada, the great enlightened country to the north whose ties with the Commonwealth are embodied in Elizabeth II, The Queen of Canada.
ReplyDeleteThank you, TJ for adding to the conversation here -- for providing specifics about Minnesota.
DeleteAll the best,
swan
How will the problem of tax breaks for married couples be solved if the govt removes itself from the business of marriage?
ReplyDeleteMalcolm, there are plenty of issues related to tax law, and I am not prepared to discuss the intricacies of that business. I do know that here, in the States, we tend to refer to the marriage penalty -- an artifact of our tax code that results in some double income married couples (particularly those at the high end of the income ladder), paying more in taxes than two identical single people would. Obviously, along with the acquisition of "marriage equality," same-sex partners are going to encounter the array of issues related to marriage in our society. There are no unmixed blessings.
Deleteswan
It's going to take more than a judge's decision to make me feel that marriage is other than a union between a man and a woman! I guess I must be a dyed-in-the-wool conservative.
ReplyDelete