All Posts Tagged With: "marriage"
California Split on Homosexual Marriage
San Francisco Gay Parade Puts Focus On November Ballot Battle.
San Francisco’s gay pride paraders celebrated their newfound freedom to marry as the city’s 38th annual march got under way with a matrimonial touch.
Members of the lesbian motorcycle group Dykes on Bikes wore bridal veils and wedding gowns and tossed bouquets as they led Sunday’s parade. Some of the motorcycles were adorned with signs reading “Just Married.”
Same-sex marriage has been legal since June 16 after a California Supreme Court decision that ruled the voter passed law unconstitutional.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom received ovations along the parade route for his role in working to overturn the state’s gay marriage ban with a ballot initiative that has qualified for the November ballot. Governor Schwarzenegger said in a pretaped interview aired Sunday on Meet the Press that he absolutely opposes a Constitutional change banning homosexual marriage in California.
Proponents of a Constitutional amendment to ban marriage between homosexuals submitted 1,120, 801 signatures to qualify the matter for the November ballot. If passed it would follow 24 other states where marriage is between one man and one woman.
If the marriages proceed during the next four months, it is unclear whether they would be nullified if the amendment passes. Some legal scholars have said the state Supreme Court might get called on again to settle that question.
A Field Poll released by U. S. News and World Report on June 29th found 51 percent of voters surveyed since the Supreme Court ruling say they approve of homosexual couples marrying; 42 percent disapprove. An LA Times poll, released last week found 54% supporting amending California’s Constitutional limiting marriage to one man and one woman.
The Gay Divorcee
This may anger some of my very conservative friends but I am in favor of marriages for gays. I think it is awful that a gay or lesbian partner is not allowed to visit their “spouse” in the hospital since they are not considered to be family. Nor can they share health packages or any number of benefits that are available to male – female marriages.
I also get angry when the religious right argue that the primary reason for marriage is “to be fruitful and multiply” as the Bible would put it. Well guess what. Since I can’t have children nor did I want them anyway, then based on the above argument I would be unable to get married, too. Not to mention the big business in contraceptives which would also defy that argument. If you don’t want gays or lesbians to be married in your church, then that is your right. But they should be allowed to marry elsewhere.
I think that whether you like it or not this country is moving towards allowing gay marriages. To appease the religious right they may call it civil unions instead of marriage but over the next few years it will be available in more and more states. As so often happens in this country, what was shocking or unthinkable five years ago will be mundane and commonplace within the next five years.
So this brings me to main point. As night follows day, where there are marriages then there will be divorces. If I were a young law student there are two new areas I would look into: internet law and gay divorce law. Just think about all the new legal questions a gay marriage and divorce would create. If Rosie O should marry her partner and then later divorce, which one would get custody of their children as they are both the “Mothers”. What about alimony? If one man makes more money then the other would he have to pay support until the lower earning male finds another partner? There would also be more demand for prenups as many of these couples are older, more established and have a greater need for a prenup. (I sure don’t see Elton John getting caught without a prenup after what just happened to fellow singer Paul McCartney.) Then there are the Private Investigators to be hired when one thinks their partner is cheating on them.
As the country moves slowly but surely towards civil unions for same sex marriages I wonder if anyone has thought about this. Then again, all those hungry lawyers and PI’s who see a huge new market have probably already figured out how they can make the most money for themselves. So even though gays and lesbians might win the right to get married it seems as if, once again, the biggest winners will 
be the lawyers.
Californians Favor Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
Fifty-four percent of Californians support amending the state constitution to ban marriage between homosexuals while 35% are against it. Ten percent are not sure including 12% of men and 9% of women according to an poll conducted for the LA Times and KTLA an LA radio station. Women favor the change by 55%.
This fairly well reflects national sentiments on the issue as reflected in a May 8-10 Gallup poll that found 56% oppose same sex marriage and 40% support it. On the issue of amending the US Constitution. An October 2007 CNN poll found the same 56% - 40% split nationwide. A 2006 Quinnipiac University Poll found 52% to 40% split.
The matter is pungent in California following its Supreme Court decision overturning a statewide vote to ban it, and another vote steamrolling toward the November 2008 ballot.
Homosexual Marriages OK’d by California Supreme Court
A deeply divided California Supreme Court decreed by a 4-3 margin Thursday that a California’s voter’s ban on homosexual marriage is not legal. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger immediately said he’d uphold the ruling. Californians and ten other states had banned same sex marriage.
A ballot measure to change the California’s Constitution and ban homosexual marriages is plodding toward the ballot in California, Florida and maybe Arizona. Same-sex marriages are legal in Massachusetts but banned in Oregon, Utah, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Dakota, Montana, Michigan, Kentucky, Georgia, and Arkansas.
Religious conservatives and other opponent are decrying the court’s decision pledging to delay its effective date past to 30-days that is not effective while proponents are festive.