Just this past year, New York State's courts ruled that the state must recognize all legal marriages, including same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Woohoo! Except we can't get a marriage license from NY. So, Kate and I will actually have to run off to Canada, where gay couples enjoy all the rights and privileges of marriage, to get ourselves that all-important document. Thank you Canada!
But here's where it gets more complicated: different states have different rules and our marriage won't legally be recognized in most of them. Regardless of the rules in a specific state, however, there's one rule on the federal level for all same-sex couples: no recognition.
Even California and Massachusetts couples cannot access federal benefits, and there are more than 1,100 of these benefits, rights and privileges. Things like: tax benefits for health insurance (my work offers health insurance to Kate but we'd have to pay taxes on the income used to purchase it as does my employer), ability to file our federal taxes together, social security benefits, etc, etc.
Of course, marriage is about a lot more than the legal aspects, and we also both feel like the laws will change in our lifetimes. We'd just prefer it happen sooner rather than later! That's why this year's election is such an important one.
As I'm sure most of you know, California recently granted marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples, but voters in November could decide to take those marriage rights away. Doing so, would be a big blow and definitely slow the day when our relationship enjoys the same rights as every other committed couple. That's why Kate and I have registered with HRC's California Marriage PAC and invite you to make a donation in honor of our wedding.
Okay, done talking politics. Thanks for listening, all!
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