Ringing in The New Year With Same Sex Marriages

[Neal]

BALTIMORE (AP) тАФ Same-sex couples in Maryland were greeted with cheers and noisemakers held over from New Year's Eve parties, as gay marriage became legal in the first state south of the Mason-Dixon Line on New Year's Day.

James Scales, 68, was married to William Tasker, 60, on Tuesday shortly after midnight by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake inside City Hall.

"It's just so hard to believe it's happening," Scales said shortly before marrying his partner of 35 years.

Six other same-sex couples also were being married at City Hall. Ceremonies were taking place in other parts of the state as well.

The ceremonies follow a legislative fight that pitted Gov. Martin O'Malley against leaders of his Catholic faith. Voters in the state, founded by Catholics in the 17th century, sealed the change by approving a November ballot question.

"There is no human institution more sacred than that of the one that you are about to form," Rawlings-Blake said during the brief ceremony. "True marriage, true marriage, is the dearest of all earthly relationships."

Brigitte Ronnett, who also was married, said she hopes one day to see full federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Maryland, Maine and Washington state were the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, in November, a development Ronnett said was significant.

"I think it's a great sign when you see that popular opinion is now in favor of this," said Ronnett, 51, who married Lisa Walther, 51, at City Hall.

Same-sex couples in Maryland have been able to get marriage licenses since Dec. 6, but they did not take effect until Tuesday.

In 2011, same-sex marriage legislation passed in the state Senate but stalled in the House of Delegates. O'Malley hadn't made the issue a key part of his 2011 legislative agenda, but indicated that summer that he was considering backing a measure similar to New York's law, which includes exemptions for religious organizations.

Shortly after, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of Baltimore wrote to O'Malley that same-sex marriage went against the governor's faith.

"As advocates for the truths we are compelled to uphold, we speak with equal intensity and urgency in opposition to your promoting a goal that so deeply conflicts with your faith, not to mention the best interests of our society," wrote O'Brien, who served as archbishop of the nation's first diocese from October 2007 to August 2011.

The governor was not persuaded. He held a news conference in July 2011 to announce that he would make same-sex marriage a priority in the 2012 legislative session. He wrote back to the archbishop that "when shortcomings in our laws bring about a result that is unjust, I have a public obligation to try to change that injustice."

The measure, with exemptions for religious organizations that choose not to marry gay couples, passed the House of Delegates in February in a close vote. O'Malley signed it in March. Opponents then gathered enough signatures to put the bill to a statewide vote, and it passed with 52 percent in favor.

In total, nine states and the District of Columbia have approved same-sex marriage. The other states are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.

So, Neal - give us an overview on the situation in the US.

It seems from the article (but I may have misinterpreted) that these same-sex marriages are legal only in the State in which they are conducted or in other States which take a similar position - i.e. they are not recognised by the Federal Govt - is that correct?

IF that's correct, then where exactly does a "same-sex married couple" stand legally if they move to another State which has not instituted these reforms? Does their marriage become "de-recognised" say for the purposes of welfare benefits, or inheritance law for example?

Or have I misinterpreted?

Anyone any response to SG's question ?? ( Neal ? ) as I have often wondered the same as I understood it to be unrecognised once they moved state where marriage equality wasn't law but often wondered how that physically worked in practice then ?

[anonone]

I am not Neal...but I can chime in....

Quick overview as expressed by Wikipedia sums it up:


While several jurisdictions have legalized same-sex marriage through court rulings, legislative action, and popular vote,[5][6] nine states prohibit same-sex marriage by statute and 30 prohibit it in their constitutions.[7] The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted in 1996, prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and allows each state to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states. The provision of DOMA forbidding the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages has been found unconstitutional in eight federal courts, including two federal appeals courts. Five of these cases are pending review by the Supreme Court.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States


DOMA is the issue being taken up by the Supreme Court this term. For now, there are some benefits at the state level (state tax implications), but you are correct that currently if a gay married couple moves to a different state, there is no guaranteed recognition of the marriage.

Another note: The US Constitution has what is termed the full faith and credit clause

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Faith_and_Credit_Clause


The Full Faith and Credit Clause is the familiar name used to refer to Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, which addresses the duties that states within the United States have to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."

The clause's application to state-sanctioned same-sex marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships is unresolved, as is its relationship to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment. Between 1996 and 2004, 39 states passed laws and constitutional amendments that define marriage as consisting solely of different-sex couples. Most explicitly prohibit the state from honoring same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries. Conversely, same-sex marriage is legal in several states and the District of Columbia. In August 2007, a federal appeals court held that the clause did require Oklahoma to issue a revised birth certificate showing both adoptive parents of a child born in Oklahoma who had been adopted by a same-sex couple married in another state.[18] Another federal appeals court held differently in April 2011 in a Louisiana case, Adar v. Smith.[19]


If DOMA is overturned by the Supreme Court (I hope and think it will), the full faith and credit clause is going to need to be addressed as well to ensure applicability among all States. But getting out from DOMA is a great step as it opens up federal (National) benefits and recognition.

Baby steps.