Tuesday, July 1, 2008

United States Marriage

“The Massachusetts court has clearly said that same-sex partners should have the same right to marry as heterosexual couples,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Any couple should be free to demonstrate their love and commitment to each other through marriage. The state should not discriminate in this deeply personal area because of the partners’ gender or sexual orientation.”

On November 18, the state’s highest court ordered in Goodridge et. al. v Department of Public Health that gay and lesbian couples be admitted to the full rights of civil marriage. The court gave the state legislature six months to amend laws to conform with the decision. Since then, several prominent state officials—including Governor Mitt Romney, Attorney General Thomas Reilly, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Thomas Finneran—have suggested that the legislature create special “civil unions” for gay and lesbian couples. These “civil unions” would provide some of the rights of marriage, but would create a separate but unequal system that would fail to meet the court’s stipulation.

“History shows again and again that separate is never equal,” said Roth. “Civil unions rarely if ever offer the full roster of rights that marriage entails. And they stigmatize same-sex relationships by suggesting they deserve only second-class recognition.”

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