Marriage licenses requested, and denied

[Kadie]

Marriage licenses requested, and denied

Same-sex couples showed up at City Hall Friday for their annual Valentine's Day ritual: a demand for marriage equality.

Their action, a mix of protest and performance, came six years to the day after Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered city officials to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples -- a short-lived directive halted a month later by the judiciary but still being battled in the California courts and the arena of public opinion.

Newson issued a statement for the occasion. ''I have never been prouder of our decision in 2004 to defy California's unjust marriage laws and do our part to carry the banner for civil rights,'' he said. ''We at once guessed at, but could never have fully imagined, that which we unleashed. We must never step back from our commitment to marriage equality until justice prevails in California and in our nation's capital.''

One couple after another entered the county clerk's office to politely request a wedding license. One couple after another was denied. A similar scenario was playing out in government offices nationwide in states that exclude same sex marriages.

snip...
Watching the staged event were Kimberly and Nicholas Meade, she in a wedding dress, he in an Army uniform. They were in City Hall to get married before he ships out to Afghanistan in the spring. ''It's unfair that gays and lesbians can't get married,'' said Kimberly Meade, 19. ''If we can, they should be able to, too.''

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail?entry_id=57146&tsp=1#ixzz0fMUUcQxy

[niyad]

1. I just ran into a friend of mine, whose son is gay. She proudly announced, upon inquiry, that he

and his partner have just celebrated their sixteenth anniversary. As we all know, this is longer than a good many hetero couples manage.

yet, they are denied the right to legally marry, while completely clueless, braindead fundies can marry at will.

I have no love for this patriarchal institution myself, but for those adults who want it, it should be available to all. It would certainly increase my photo and catering sidelines, not to mention my pastoral license would come in very handy.

[HillbillyBob]

2. We celebrate our 14 anniversary today.

I could tell you some real horrors about long term couples who were together from 25 to 40 yrs.
One dies and even though they had titles, deeds, wills etc some 'blood' family member shows up and tosses out the survivor, in some cases w/out even their own clothes, in some cases stealing the joint bank or money market accounts leaving the survivor not only homeless, but penniless without even their own money to fall back on, and with the hiv aids crisis sick to boot.
Sometimes family members who have not spoke to the deceased in years or decades or never.

If something were to happen to my partner, I could likely be facing the same thing from his nephews, who of course never call, write or visit.

[Kadie]

4. Happy Anniversary HillbillyBob!

:hug:

[niyad]

5. Happy Anniversary-- and may you both outlive those dreadful nephews.

I know, I have heard and seen those stories myself--blows my mind that such appalling hatred exists-- I only wish them everything they deserve.

[harkadog]

6. How could that happen

if they had "titles, deeds, wills, etc." Those are legal documents and blood relatives don't mean shit in court when those exist. Happy anniversary to you but as an attorney I don't believe that story based on the facts you have presented.

[HillbillyBob]

7. You don't live and practice in the South

It seems all these relatives have to do is show up with proof they are blood relatives and a 'will' I have seen over and over were fake wills were profered as 'proof' that the family was meant to get the property.

I have neither time nor patience to go through all of the shenanigans that I had seen go on in Fla courts. Not being rude, just very tired and not feeling well. The short of it is that blood relatives take precedent over legal strangers meme prevalent in the South. If you are not married or adopted or some other legal finangle, you and your partner are legal strangers, even if its a straigth unmarried couple it happens too. j

If you are gay , you are less than so screwing you over is ok

[Kadie]

3. Congratulations to them on 16 years!

Hopefully they will be able to marry someday soon!

:hi: