Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself

Reader’s View

Lawmakers must consider issues before voting on same-sex marriage

By Sara Shepard

In Idaho and across the nation, every step to advance civil rights has caused dissidence until we understood that bringing more people fairness and justice strengthens us all.

This month yet another measure to amend our state constitution will likely be introduced in the Statehouse.

Legal protections for committed same-sex couples raise difficult questions but I hope certain facts and questions will be considered before a vote is taken to amend our state constitution to ban gay marriage and civil unions. 

Specifically:

-          Marriage laws once prohibited black people from marrying whites, slaves from marrying the free, and the property of a woman, once she married, was the property of the husband. The  “institution” of marriage is not static but will continue to change.

-          Same-sex couples are estimated to live in 99.3 percent of all counties nationwide.  Advocates for a constitutional amendment declare that same sex-marriage is not natural, even though same-sex couples occur naturally everywhere in this country.  Why are they and their families any less deserving of legal protections than traditional couples?

-          Never before in our state’s history have we amended our constitution to exclude people from legal protections.  What makes marriage so dangerous as to justify discrimination in our state’s most important legal document?

-          Advocates of the ban suggest that traditional marriage is threatened.  But consider your own marriage – how will your (or my) marriage be affected if same-sex couples have access to equivalent legal protections? 

-          According to the Governmental Accounting Office, the federal government provides over a thousand legal protections to married couples that are denied to same-sex couples who make the same kinds of commitments.  States or private companies provide many more, including automatic inheritance of shared property after a spouse’s death, ability to file wrongful death claims, access to health and life insurance through a spouse’s workplace, right to shared property, alimony, and child support after divorce, sick leave to care for a spouse or child, automatic next of kin status for emergency medical decisions and hospital visitation. 

-          It is impossible to obtain all the equivalent protections of marriage by private contract (e.g., you can’t change hospital policies by contracting with your partner).   To obtain as many of these protections as possible would cost many thousands of dollars in legal fees, thus providing very limited protections and only for the well-to-do.

-          Idaho already has law that is not being challenged that excludes same-sex couples from marriages.  Allowing civil unions, for both gay and straight couples, is a solution that ensures that every family is protected.

An upcoming event is an opportunity to learn more, and to meet several powerful people who are directly affected by these issues.

On Saturday, January 22^nd, Mary Li and Becky Kennedy along with their 19-month old daughter, Ava, would like you to hear their story at the Rose Room in Boise.  The daughter of a Chinese man who married a white American at a time when interracial marriages were prohibited in many states, Mary Li’s story is particularly powerful.  Last spring this story gained added meaning, as Mary and Becky obtained the first legal same-sex marriage certificate in Oregon.  Roey Thorpe, a pivotal leader of Oregon’s struggle to obtain the legal protections of marriage for same-sex couples, will also speak.

At a pre-event (off-site) reception that evening that will include these women, the American Civil Liberties Union will honor David Nevin and the law firm of Nevin, Benjamin & McKay for defending the First Amendment and Sami Omar Al-Hussayen.  You may attend these memorable events by calling 344-9750, ext. 204 or email ashipley@acluidaho.org.