Free Republic

Detroit news commentary on legal impact of ban on gay marriage if partner dies. Editorial

<p>Back in 1955, Linda Ketner was just 4, but she could read the “Colored” and “White” signs over the drinking fountains in a Salisbury, N.C., dime store.</p> <p>The little white girl asked about them. Her grandmother replied, “What do you think they mean?”</p>

<p>Gloria Bailey and Linda Davies laugh when they recall singing the Beatles’ “When I’m 64” to one another when they fell in love as closeted social workers in Massachusetts.</p> <p>Looking back, they say their younger selves could never have imagined they’d one day be openly gay, let alone one of the seven high-profile couples who persuaded Massachusetts’ top court to rule they can marry beginning May 17.</p>

<p>Call me old-fashioned, but the best romantic love lasts years longer than it takes to eat a box of chocolates. And keeping it strong is often difficult, emotionally challenging work.</p> <p>That’s also true of civil rights movements. And that’s one reason it’s none too soon to start thinking about how to be part of Freedom to Marry Week, which embraces Valentine’s Day and runs from Feb. 9 to 15.</p>

<p>Something’s been wrong with the picture of gay America: It’s been way too white for way too long.</p> <p>That distorted image has had damaging consequences: Seeing so many white faces accompanying gay stories, many heterosexual African-Americans understandably equate being gay with being white. Sensing discomfort and disapproval in their families and churches, many black gay men and lesbians stay closeted, both from those they love dearly and the media.</p>

<p>When President Bill Clinton moved to lift the discriminatory ban on gays in the military 11 years ago, veterans bombarded Capitol Hill with angry letters and phone calls. Clinton and the gay community got a quick, painful education about the clout of America’s 27 million veterans and the nearly 500 groups that represent them: When veterans talk, Congress snaps to attention.</p>

<p>Although 2,000 miles apart, Amanda Blair and Stephanie Haaser will remember their high school years for remarkably similar lessons — about courage, integrity and the personal rewards of standing up for the underdog.</p> <p>Upset by anti-gay climates at their schools in Wyoming and Maryland, the heterosexual teens creatively figured out how to transform routine occasions into powerful lessons for their peers and teachers and to show gay kids they have allies.</p>

<p>“Do you think we could get a table by the water?” Joyce asked politely when she phoned downstairs for reservations at Swan Court, a restaurant at the Hyatt Regency on Maui that is ranked as one of the most romantic dining spots in the world.</p>

".....about two lesbians getting "married" in Canada who are former editors for the Post. A "gay-marriage announcement" for them ran on the "Weddings" page of the Post. They are Deb Price, a columnist for the Detroit News, and Joyce Murdoch, a managing editor for politics at the influential National Journal magazine who had served as an editor and reporter at the Post for 10 years. This background may help explain why the Post accommodated them by abandoning its traditional requirement that the "Weddings" page only feature announcements relating to legal marriages, engagements to be legally married, or wedding anniversaries. "It...