NO ON 8
HELP CALIFORNIA KEEP OUR EQUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS!
An initiative on the November ballot is attempting to take away the constitutional rights of all citizens to wed in California.
Pledge your support at Equality of All >
World Laws
Same-sex marriage laws
Canada
The Netherlands
Belgium
Spain
South Africa
Norway
Massachussetts (USA)
Connecticut (USA)
California (USA)
Recognized
New York (USA)
France
Israel
Aruba (Dutch)
Netherlands Antilles
Same-sex partnership laws
Andorra
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
Luxembourg
Netherlands
New Zealand
Portugal
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Uruguay
Recognized
Argentina (C, R, VCP)
Australia (TAS, ACT, VIC)
Brasil (RS)
Mexico (Coah, DF)
USA (CA, CT, DC, HI, ME, MD,NH, NJ, OR, VT, WA)
Source: Wikipedia
Marriage Equality USA has fought tirelessly for equal marriage rights in the USA. Many of the plaintiffs in the California suit against the same-sex marriage ban have been directly involved with Marriage Equality USA. Show them your support by logging on to their website at MarriageEquality.org
by Davina Kotulski
Around the world, LGBT people are coming out of the closet in unprecedented numbers and advocating for their basic civil rights. The California State Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on May 15th striking down the ban on same-sex couples marrying has reinvigorated that push towards full marriage equality. Unlike Massachusetts, California does not have any residency requirements to obtain a marriage license, this means couples from across the globe can come to the Golden State for their nuptials and honeymoon.
Much has changed for the better in the last twenty years starting with the pioneering efforts in Denmark which in 1989 became the first country to provide relationship rights to same-sex couples. Today, marriage between two people of the same sex is recognized in seven countries (Belgium, Canada, Israel, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and Norway) and in two states in the U.S. (Massachusetts and California). Additionally, twenty different countries provide some legal recognition to same-sex couples. The need for same-sex relationship recognition is being seriously considered by elected officials in a dozen more.
The fact that gay marriage is now a reality in several countries, coupled with the important polling data showing that a majority of young people support equal marriage rights, guarantees that the promise of marriage equality will continue to expand across the globe. Even in countries like India, where homosexuality is against the law, LGBT Indians are challenging this law in court and actively envisioning the day that they too will have the right to legally marry. Last year in Taiwan, same-sex couples requested marriage licenses at their local marriage counters in a grassroots effort that started in the U.S. and has become an international action in support of marriage equality across the globe.
While relationship recognition is only one aspect of the quest for equal treatment under the law, it is one of the most critical because it goes to the heart of being able to care for ourselves and our families.
by Davina Kotulski
Full Marriage Rights Equals Full Citizenship
Many people ask me why we are so determined to win equal marriage rights instead of accepting some kind of legal alternative like civil unions.. It’s simple, only marriage equality will grant same-sex couples access to hundreds of state rights and the 1,138 federal rights afforded straight married couples eliminating loopholes and inequities in one fell swoop. Moreover, marriage is a universally understood concept that crosses cultures and continents—some form of bringing two people and their families together to create a new family exists in every culture. Marriage is not just a word—it’s a whole cultural system of kinship networks that Gays and Lesbians are daily asked to acknowledge, while simultaneously being excluded from full participation themselves.
As E.J Graff once said “Marriage is a short-hand taken seriously by banks, insurers, courts, employers, schools, hospitals, cemeteries, rental car companies, frequent flyer programs, and more.” Marriage creates family from legal strangers and allows us to act on each other’s behalf (i.e. to use sick leave to care for one another, to inherit our shared property without a will, to make medical decisions for a partner, to file joint taxes, etc). Gay people need to have access to this shorthand just as much as their heterosexual counterparts to ensure that our family commitments are taken seriously as well. Until LGBT have access to full equality they will never be seen as part of the social fabric of “family.”
Marriage Transforms
Marriage is an important rite of passage which also transforms the couple in a relationship. Each action taken in the preparation of a wedding weaves the couple and their respective extended families closer together, culminating in the ritualized letting go of their legal status of “single” and vowing to legally and emotionally care for one another despite unforeseen hardships to come. Marriage bonds a couple together as a testament of love, showing the primacy of this relationship as the most intimate chosen adult relationship. For same-sex couples, a marriage ceremony joyfully shares the love the partners have for one another in a context that is familiar to family members, friends, and co-workers and invites their support and recognition in ways that no other alternative ceremony provides.
Numerous studies have shown that married people live longer, have better mental and physical health, and are more financially and emotionally secure. Studies have also found tangible psychological harms experienced when LGBT people are denied the ability to marry. Helping secure the right of LGBT couples to marry in every country around the world will help to ensure that our entire community has access to having someone to legally share your life with, to emotionally comfort you in the bad times and celebrate with you in the good, and ensure the opportunity for everyone to experience the beneficial effects that come with civil marriage.
Davina Kotulski, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and author of Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage. She was the former Executive Director of Marriage Equality USA and has been involved with the marriage equality movement since 1998. Visit her website at DavinaKotulski.com
