Going to the chapel....

To start off, I'll write about a topic near and dear to my heart: gay marriage. Before I settled down, I never contemplated the need to get married. It was something that straight folks did, which was fine with me, but seemed neither an option nor a necessity for gays and lesbians. But, I fell in love and went to law school, and learned that my partner and I are completely unprotected under the law.

With some contractual finagling , we can create kind of complex partnership agreement to try to imitate at least some of the rights and responsibilities of marriage for my partner and me. But, while we can make a legally binding agreement as to some issues, we can't imitate the 1,138 federal rights and benefits afforded automatically to married couples, such as automatic "next of kin" status in medical emergencies; any of the benefits of the Family and Medical Leave Act (if I get sick, she doesn't receive the 12 weeks of leave to care for me); the right to share equitably all jointly held property and debt (think big tax consequences if one of us dies or we break up); family-related Social security benefits, income and estate tax benefits; disability benefits; family-related military and veterans benefits and other important benefits; and purchase continued health coverage for a domestic partner after the loss of a job. That's really just the tip of the iceberg.

I hope that all of you straight married folks realize how lucky you are. Look at your spouse and realize that if something goes horribly wrong, and one of you is sick or canned or you split up, there is a legal framework you can utilize to protect yourself and your family. You don't have to do anything more than go to Vegas and get married by a man dressed as Elvis. I'll spend hours of my own time to draft wills, agreements, and powers of attorney. Then, I'll spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to have them reviewed by another lawyer. These documents will be revised again whenever we sell or buy property, or move, or have children.

Well, at least we don't live in Virginia. Same-sex couples there cannot make enforceable contracts which in any way mirror the rights of married couples. So, contracts regarding home ownership and such are out the window. Makes me wonder what Mary Cheney and Heather Poe are thinking.