06.17.08
California Same-Sex Weddings Will Affect Other States
After wedding-day celebrations subside, gay and lesbian couples from other states who marry starting this week in California face sobering challenges.
Many will return home to states which explicitly reject same-sex unions. Major gay-rights groups are urging them not to rush into lawsuits demanding that their marriages be recognized. Lawyers warn that they may have difficulty divorcing if things go awry.
California will become the second state after Massachusetts to allow same-sex marriages, but the first to do so without any residency requirements. states have statutes or constitutional amendments specifying that marriage is between a man and a woman, and denying recognition to same-sex unions. The federal government also doesn’t recognize such unions.
Worried that their court victory in California could be offset by defeats elsewhere, a coalition of nine national gay-rights groups last week issued an appeal — titled ”Make Change, Not Lawsuits” — to gays and lesbians considering California marriages.
”Couples who want to should get married, call themselves married, and ask — sometimes demand — that family, friends, neighbors, businesses, employers and the community treat their marriages with respect,” the statement said.
”But one thing couples shouldn’t do is just sue the federal government or, if they are from other states, go sue their home state or their employer to recognize their marriage or open up the health plan,” it added. ”Bad rulings will make it much more difficult for us to win marriage, and will certainly make it take much longer.”
Worried about possible legal chaos, attorneys general from several states asked California to postpone the start of same-sex marriage until after Nov. 4 voting on a state ballot measure that could ban such unions. The request was denied.
Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said litigation by newly married same-sex couples ‘’should be an absolute last resort” — reserved only for cases where there is grievous injustice and a realistic chance of prevailing in court.
Minter also noted that same-sex couples marrying in California could find themselves with no efficient way to dissolve the marriage if it breaks down. States that don’t recognize same-sex marriages might refuse to grant a divorce, and California — while lacking a residency requirement for marriage — does have one for divorces.