Yesterday and today, many happy same-sex couples are getting hitched in San Francisco. Our friends Michael & Fred were among this morning's couples, as well as my co-worker Paul and his partner Brad. Congratulations to everyone involved. I feel proud to live in the San Francisco area.

We talked about going down there too, but felt that we would wait until we can marry in a way that is going to be recognized by the government. In the 80's, we got married in front of the IRS in Washington, and that type of ceremony, while important politically and symbolically, has no more appeal for me. If we are going to marry again, I want it all. I want every right that a straight couple gets. I want my friends and family as witnesses. I want to be all dressed up. I want music.

Here is an interesting list of all the rights that are conferred upon married couples.

The following material was provided by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. The list appears to be based on a request by Representative Henry J Hyde, in 1996-SEP. He was chairperson of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and asked the General Accounting Office "to identify federal laws in which benefits, rights and privileges are contingent on marital status."

The list below was compiled for a couple living in the United States. However, similar provisions exist in many other countries.

On the order of 1,400 legal rights are conferred upon married couples in the U.S. Typically these are composed of about 400 state benefits and over 1,000 federal benefits. Among them are the rights to:
joint parenting;
joint adoption;
joint foster care, custody, and visitation (including non-biological parents);
status as next-of-kin for hospital visits and medical decisions where one partner is too ill to be competent;
joint insurance policies for home, auto and health;
dissolution and divorce protections such as community property and child support;
immigration and residency for partners from other countries;
inheritance automatically in the absence of a will;
joint leases with automatic renewal rights in the event one partner dies or leaves the house or apartment;
inheritance of jointly-owned real and personal property through the right of survivorship (which avoids the time and expense and taxes in probate);
benefits such as annuities, pension plans, Social Security, and Medicare;
spousal exemptions to property tax increases upon the death of one partner who is a co-owner of the home;
veterans' discounts on medical care, education, and home loans;
joint filing of tax returns;
joint filing of customs claims when traveling;
wrongful death benefits for a surviving partner and children;
bereavement or sick leave to care for a partner or child;
decision-making power with respect to whether a deceased partner will be cremated or not and where to bury him or her;
crime victims' recovery benefits;
loss of consortium tort benefits;
domestic violence protection orders;
judicial protections and evidentiary immunity;
and more....

Most of these legal and economic benefits cannot be privately arranged or contracted for. For example, absent a legal (or civil) marriage, there is no guaranteed joint responsibility to the partner and to third parties (including children) in such areas as child support, debts to creditors, taxes, etc. In addition, private employers and institutions often give other economic privileges and other benefits (special rates or memberships) only to married couples. And, of course, when people cannot marry, they are denied all the emotional and social benefits and responsibilities of marriage as well.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 13, 2004 at 10:52 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.