Marriage Equality Rhode Island

MERI Blog

Inequality is Messy Business

posted by Tiffany Rauch-Dickson

on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 2:28 pm

(via California Progress Report)

by Alice Kessler
Government Affairs Director
Equality California

In the aftermath of the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8, which eliminated the right to marry for same-sex couples, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community members have been grappling with the injustices and uncertainties the discriminatory ban has created. Although Proposition 8 has produced an irrational, unequal situation for all same-sex couples, it has left same-sex couples who married outside the state especially confused about their rights. After the marriage ban was left intact, thousands of same-sex couples and their families who had married outside of California were left in the dark – the Court didn’t address how Proposition 8 impacted them.

In order to clarify the rights of same-sex couples married outside the state, Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) introduced the Marriage Recognition and Family Protection Act, SB 54, sponsored by Equality California. The bill eases the anxieties of LGBT couples and their families by addressing two key issues. First, it confirms that same-sex couples who married outside of California before the passage of Proposition 8 are entitled to full recognition as married spouses, regardless of whether they married in-state or out-of-state. That rule is consistent with existing law, including the California Supreme Court’s holding in In re Marriage Cases that California cannot treat marriages differently based on whether they were performed in-state or out-of-state.

Second, SB 54 underscores that same-sex couples married outside of California after Proposition 8 passed, must be given all of the rights, protections, and responsibilities of spouses under California law, with the sole exception of the designation of “marriage.”

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