Sunday, July 24, 2011

Forbidden Homemaking 101 ?

Today is New York's first day allowing same gender couples to marry.     Congratulations !

From today's New York Times: "New York is the sixth, and largest, state to legalize same-sex marriage. Several other states are considering following suit... But most states have either laws or constitutional amendments barring same-sex marriage, and federal law bars the United States government from recognizing same-sex marriages." The US Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) remains a grim prohibition, a forced denial of basic rights to minority people.

Massachusetts had the first legal same-sex marriages in the USA on 17 May 2004. US states often continue to bicker about whether such gay pairing is termed "marriage" or "civil union" or "domestic partnership" or something else.


Here in Sweden, gay couples were allowed "registered partnership" from 1995; marriage became gender neutral from 1 May 2009 after a long struggle (one champion for change was US-born Rita 'Rainy' Creighton, who tragically died in a motorbike crash before the legal normalization).

I believe "Homemaking 101" is a human right to which the State & Church might be invited to validate, but with which they should not interfere.

On a personal note, when my parents married in Massachusetts in 1956, they were legally prohibited to marry or cohabit in 14 U.S. states (my mom is mixed race, Hawaiian / Caucasian / Chinese, my dad is Caucasian). If my mother were Negro, they were barred marriage in a further 11 states (25 total of the then 48 states). Bad.

Anyhow, to those marrying today - Belated Congratulations !