The air became a little less oppressive Wednesday. STILL, LET’S celebrate! Let’s bask in new-found freedoms! Group hug.
Two rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court made life easier for same-sex couples. One decision grants federal benefits to gay couples, and the other allows a previous ruling for same-sex marriage in California to stand.
The laws apply only in states where same-sex marriage is allowed. To date, that’s a mere 13 states plus the District of Columbia. That said, those 13 states capture 30 percent of the U.S. population.
The first case, United States v Windsor, was filed by New York octogenarian Edith Windsor after she was required to pay some $360,000 in federal estate taxes because she was denied the right to be treated as the surviving spouse in the death of her partner, Clara Spyder. The two women had had a monogamous relationship for more than 40 years.
Treating same-sex marriages with less respect than traditional unions, “is in violation of the Fifth Amendment,” Justice Antonio Kennedy wrote in his decision. The Fifth Amendment protects citizens from abuse of government authority.
The ruling overturns the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
DOMA was two-faced; recognizing gay marriage, yet refusing to allow privileges granted to traditional marriages.
The majority of justices saw this as government-sanctioned discrimination.
Wednesday’s ruling would have been more broad-sweeping had it recognized same-sex marriage across the land, instead in just states that approve it individually.
In Kansas, gay couples are treated more like lepers.
They cannot be legally married, they are denied Social Security survivor benefits, they cannot file income taxes jointly, they cannot have next-of-kin status for emergency medical decisions, they cannot have family visitation rights to visit a loved one in the hospital, nor can they receive spousal benefits when an officer is killed in the line of duty.
Wednesday’s rulings, though good, still work to divide the country. A national poll earlier this month recorded 55 percent of U.S. residents favor granting same-sex marriages the same legal rights and protections enjoyed by traditional marriages.
The breakdown is mostly generational. Those under 50 favor gay marriage by 61 percent; of those older, only 42 percent do so.
States that continue to deny gay rights are only working to further isolate themselves.
— Susan Lynn
