Thursday, September 30, 2010

"For Richer, For Poorer: Same-Sex Couples and the Freedom to Marry as a Civil Right," DMI E-Journal, by Wolfson, Evan, - (Drum Major Institute for Public Policy) 2003

Excerpts:

Introduction
On the historic, horrific morning of September 11, 2001, John kissed his wife, Rosa, goodbye before heading to his job as an office-cleaner in the World Trade Center’s North Tower. Rosa never heard from her husband again. After searching frantically for days, Rosa accepted the reality of his disappearance. She filed for a death certificate and arranged her husband’s memorial service. Rosa received Workers’ Compensation from the state and a small Social Security death benefit from the federal government. She contacted John's former employer, who arranged for receipt of his pension. Because John and Rosa had few assets, they had never seen the need for a will, nor did they have the financial means to hire a lawyer to prepare one. Nonetheless, John's assets, which included a small savings account, their home and a car, were given to Rosa by law.

That same morning, Juan kissed Ryan, his partner of 21 years, goodbye and headed to his job as a file-clerk in that same North Tower. Like Rosa, Ryan never heard from Juan again. Ryan applied for Workers’ Compensation and Social Security, but, unlike Rosa, he was told he was not eligible for those benefits because he was not Juan’s legal spouse. Even though Juan and Ryan had taken some precautions to protect their commitment -- such as registering as domestic partners, designating one another as beneficiaries on insurance policies, and executing health care proxies and powers of attorney -- and even though Juan paid the same taxes as John, Ryan was not automatically entitled to any of the compensations given to Rosa. In addition to his emotional devastation, Ryan was financially devastated as well.

Why did Rosa have an economic safety net, while Ryan did not? The answer can be summed up in two words: “I do.” ...

Marriage Makes Life Together More Affordable
Marriage makes almost every aspect of a relationship less expensive. Without money, a lawyer or any forethought, married couples receive the benefits of a complex set of legal rules that create default choices most couples would select anyway. Thus:

Spouses are allowed to make life-saving decisions for each other without drafting powers of attorney or other complicated legal documents;

Spouses presumptively inherit each others' estates without the need for intricate wills; …
Read complete article:
http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/library/article.php?ID=5518
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/09/for-richer-for-poorer-same-sex-couples.html

Same-Sex Marriage: A Selective Bibliography of the Legal Literature
by Paul Axel-Lute - Rutgers School of Law–Newark
http://law-library.rutgers.edu/SSM.html

California Prop 8, Aug, 4, 2010 - Deep misunderstanding - "We the People" means - US Constitution – DANGERS of majority rule - a reflection of prejudice, intolerance, ignorance, panic and crude self-interest…
by Geoffrey R. Stone - Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-oped-0808-stone-20100808,0,2223308.story
Geoffrey R. Stone is a law professor at the University of Chicago.

Archbishop John Nienstedt on
Catholic Church's opposition to same-sex marriage
by Tom Crann,
September 22, 2010 - Minnesota Public Radio

Quotes Nienstedt:
“Marriage isn't something that we create as human beings. It's already a given from the work of creation by almighty God.”

“We've been labeled as discriminating against gay people. There's no discrimination when there isn't a basic right to something. And those who have the right to marriage are men and women who want to enter into a life-long, mutually supportive and procreative relationship.”

“Marriage came long before there was any government.
And so this is a natural reality, and it's defined by the natural law, what we call the natural law. And so it precedes any government. And government is meant to support marriage between a husband and a wife in order to give it a context for the raising of children and the protection of children.”

“Audio excerpt from Nienstedt's remarks: The archdiocese believes that the time has come for voters to be presented directly with an amendment to our state constitution to preserve our historic understanding of marriage. In fact, this is the only way to put the one man, one woman definition of marriage beyond the reach of the courts and politicians.

Crann: Is that, in fact, a political statement?

Nienstedt: I don't believe so, no. I think that's a reasonable, common sense thing.”
Read more:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/09/22/archbishop-nienstedt-same-sex-marriage-dvd-qa/

Anti-gay marriage DVDs - UNSUBSTANTIATED - Nienstedt (Minnesota) & Benedict XVI, gay marriage, like Galileo Against Nature law – “It is Common Sense” ??? -> Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/09/nienstedt-minnesota-benedict-xvi-gay.html

John Nienstedt's anti-gay marriage crusade draws another protest
by ‎Hart Van Denburg,
September 29, 2010 - Minneapolis City Pages
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/09/john-nienstedts-anti-gay-marriage.html

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