Posted on 07/20/2004 10:14:57 PM PDT by ambrose
Posted on Tue, Jul. 20, 2004
Lesbians sue to have all states recognize Massachusetts marriage
MITCH STACY
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - A lesbian couple from Bradenton who were married in Massachusetts sued the federal government Tuesday to have their union legally recognized in the rest of the country.
The suit was filed against U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in federal court in Tampa.
The couple's attorney, Ellis Rubin, has filed five previous suits in state and federal courts challenging the ban, but Tuesday's was believed to be the first to attempt to compel the federal government and other states to recognize a union that occurred in a state where same-sex unions are legal.
The suit was filed on behalf of the Rev. Nancy Wilson, a Metropolitan Community Church minister, and Paula Schoenwether, a family marriage counselor. The two have been together for 27 years and were married July 2 in Massachusetts, the only state where same-sex marriages are recognized.
"No one has anything to be afraid of by recognizing our marriage," Wilson said outside the courthouse Tuesday. "We consider ourselves to have been married for 27 years, but we know this is a moment in history, this is a time in which gay and lesbian people are not going to accept second-class citizenship in our country."
Rubin's suit claims that the ban on gay marriage is a constitutional issue, which is why Ashcroft is named as a defendant. Hillsborough County Clerk Richard L. Ake is also named because he had declined to issue the couple a Florida marriage license.
The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and a 1997 Florida statute that defines marriage as the union between a man and woman violate the equal-protection rights of his clients, Rubin said.
"The Florida law and federal law separates and makes second-class citizens out of gays and lesbians because of their gender and sexual orientation," Rubin said. "I hope that the court recognizes that and says it isn't equality if opposite sex couples can marry but same-sex couples cannot."
Ashcroft spokesman Charles Miller said Tuesday that no one in his office had seen the suit, and he would not comment.
Ake said he was following Florida law when he denied the couple a marriage license.
The U.S. Senate last week handed a defeat to President Bush when it scuttled a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
The House is voting on a bill to stop this kind of thing.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1175499/posts?page=4
The Sunday New York Times has had 4 or 5 announcements of Massachusetts non-resident gay marriages. I called Governor Romney's office about it - since he has been trying to uphold the residency law. The young man I spoke with (probably a student intern, probably gay) did NOT want to hear about it.
Yaaayyy! EdReform's back!! Heeeyahh!
If anyone thinks that radical homosexuals (and remind me again, please, of how most homosexuals are just peaceful, monogamous, conservative, beige-wearing, buttoned down, uncle and auntie type, Republican voting, "gay" agenda loathers?) do NOT want to destroy the moral foundation of human society, please raise your hands!
(If any hands are raised, I'll bring out the "In their own words" quoting noted homosexual spokespersons' own viewpoint on "gay" marriage.)
You said it brilliantly....too bad the cowards in congress decided to duck and run
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