Grandfathering in the Gays


Grandfathering in the gays

By Kelvin Wade
December 30, 2009 3:31PM

It will truly be a happy new year for some gay couples. Without much fanfare, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 54, a new law that will go into effect in the new year, recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages with California benefits as long as the nuptials took place before the passed of Proposition 8.

So, gay couples married out of state before the passage of Proposition 8 will be
considered married in California.

Also, according to the new law, same-sex couples married out of state on or after Nov. 5, 2008, 'shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law' as married couples 'with the sole exception of the designation of 'marriage.' '

So if same-sex couples married out of state prior to Proposition 8's passage, they're considered married in California. If they married after Proposition 8's passage, while they receive all the same benefits, they're not considered 'married.'

Where was the rancor when Gov. Schwarzenegger signed this law back in October? Was the Mormon church asleep at the wheel? Where was the Rev. Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church and their hate-filled signs? Did anyone even catch a whiff of brimstone?

How are we even comfortable having a multi-tiered marital situation like this in California? Marriage is between a man and a woman, except if you married before Nov. 5 last year. And if you married the same sex in Iowa after Nov. 5 and moved to California, we're going to extend to you all the benefits of marriage except you can't use that word. If you're gay and want to marry in California, you can't. But you can marry in another state, come back here and receive all the benefits of marriage.

Huh?

It's starting to feel like Animal Farm around here. Everyone is equal but some are more equal than others.

The gay marriage wars continue. On Jan. 11, Proposition 8 will be argued in federal court in San Francisco. The proceedings are to be televised, which supporters of Proposition 8 oppose. Meanwhile, supporters of gay marriage are working to qualify the California Marriage Equality Act, which would repeal Proposition 8, for the November 2010 ballot.

Still, these events don't seem to be commanding the public's attention. Perhaps we don't care. Maybe we're gay-marriage fatigued. Or maybe when you're under water on your house, barely holding on to your job and hoping to God some kind of health-care reform can help you and your family, you don't have the luxury of worrying about issues such as this.

What are opponents fighting for anyway? Hasn't half of the battle been lost even in spite of the passage of Proposition 8? We already have gay married couples in this state with all the state's rights and privileges accorded to them as heterosexual marriages. We will recognize gay marriages from other states and accord them the same rights and privileges but just won't call it marriage.

Wherever you might stand, it appears this train has left the station. Maybe 2010 will give us closure on the issue. Peace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

NOTES: I'll be honest with you. I'm sick of the topic. Just for me personally, when I look at my own life with mortgage that's underwater and me being in shaky health with grandkids who desperately need a father figure in their lives, I don't have time to worry about boys loving boys. This really isn't the subject that keeps me up at night.

I think what's going to happen with this issue is pretty obvious. Congress will never act because it's not in their interest to act. They only act when their corporate paymasters tell them to. There's no money in gay marriage. No upside. So when conservatives on the Supreme Court are replaced by moderates or liberals, a case will be brought to them on this issue and they will strike down DOMA and legalize gay marriage. After all, despite the covenant wth God, the scriptural references and the pomp and circumstance, what marriage really is as far as the government is concerned is a contract between two people. I'm confident Supreme Court justices will make that contract gender neutral. It could be 10 years from now.

But that's what's got to happen because even state sanctioned marriage isn't true equality because of all the federal benefits and privileges that are denied to gay couples.

But I thought it interesting that there's really been no fanfare about this new law. Maybe people don't know. Maybe people are just burnt out. Or maybe we all have other things to worry about right now.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Matt Garcia

Image
Ten years ago, I woke up and turned on my laptop and went to the Daily Republic website and was devastated to learn of the shooting of Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia. I immediately called my brother Tony who answered and knew why I was calling. We shared our shock and horror. But mainly we just cried together on the phone. Later when Matt had been removed from life support and passed away I told Tony that it felt like hope itself had died. He told me, “Matt has inspired too many people to let hope die. But hope took a beating today.” It seemed like some horrible cosmic joke. Twenty-one year old Matt Garcia, elected to the Fairfield City Council on a platform of supporting youth and curbing violence is murdered on the streets of Fairfield. What's worse, his killer mistook him for someone else. It was a pointless act of evil in which a worthless example of a human being took the life of a priceless one. In 2007 Matt invited me to lunch at Joe's Buffet to discuss...
Read more

What if we could enforce our own driving laws?

Image
Thursday, June 6, 2013 Let’s all enforce our own driving laws By Kelvin Wade From page A11 | June 06, 2013 | Leave Comment Vallejo resident Anthony Cardenas, 52, became a local hero after painting his own crosswalk near his home on Sonoma Boulevard at Illinois Street. Cardenas claims the busy street is dangerous for pedestrians, so he painted the crosswalk and earned himself an arrest for felony vandalism and trip to jail for his trouble. Mr. Cardenas makes me want to place my tongue firmly in cheek and take matters into my own hands to make things safer. Have you ever had idiots zoom down your street in complete disregard for kids in the neighborhood? I’d love to creep outside at 3 a.m. with some cement and make my own speed bumps. The next time the speedsters come flying down my street, they’d make a sunroof with their own heads when they hit my new speed bump. BAM! Problem solved. Last week, my friend Nedra Polk asked me to write about the condition of Clay Bank Road between Air B...
Read more

The reason I've ditched my earphones at night

Monday, August 26, 2013 FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA Accident convinces me to ditch my iPad By Kelvin Wade From page A7 | August 22, 2013 | 4 Comments I’ve been an insomniac for years. I used to embrace my insomnia by putting on a pot of coffee at night and doing some of my best writing while the stars were out. I wrote about having a sleep study a couple of months ago and one of the things the analyst told me is I have to stay off my iPad in bed. That hasn’t happened. But recently, my girlfriend Cathi stumbled upon a cure for my nightly iPad habit. So there I was in the middle of the night in bed with earphones in listening to an awesome version of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die” while pummeling various victims in “Words with Friends” on my iPad when I heard a boom. I turned on a lamp and saw my Beagle, Theo, panting at the bedroom door. I thought he’d jumped against the door to get my attention. Lately, he’s had to go out a lot at night (a dog with the bladder of a mouse...
Read more