Wolfman1982
people are hard to please
- Joined
- May 26, 2005
- Posts
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http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/the_criminalization_of_gay_marriage
by Maia Spotts
In 1996, when the Hawaii Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking opinion in Baehr v. Miike, gay couples cheered and the conservatives freaked out. The world seemed suddenly at risk of being overrun by happily married homosexuals. And so, to allay those fears, the government passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which said, in a nutshell, don't worry, even if they do get married in Hawaii, you can just ignore them when they come home.
And in 2003, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court brought down the house, and marriage inequality, with the Goodridge case, same-sex couples around the country geared up for a pilgrimage of mass proportion. Governor Mitt Romney, in an attempt to not add marriage equality to Massachusetts' long list of historical moments, invoked what is commonly known as a Marriage Evasion statute, to limit marriages to Massachusetts residences.
The Criminalization of Gay Marriage
by Maia Spotts September 01, 2010 06:02 AM (PT) Topics: Defense of Marriage Act, Marriage Equality
In 1996, when the Hawaii Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking opinion in Baehr v. Miike, gay couples cheered and the conservatives freaked out. The world seemed suddenly at risk of being overrun by happily married homosexuals. And so, to allay those fears, the government passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which said, in a nutshell, don't worry, even if they do get married in Hawaii, you can just ignore them when they come home.
And in 2003, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court brought down the house, and marriage inequality, with the Goodridge case, same-sex couples around the country geared up for a pilgrimage of mass proportion. Governor Mitt Romney, in an attempt to not add marriage equality to Massachusetts' long list of historical moments, invoked what is commonly known as a Marriage Evasion statute, to limit marriages to Massachusetts residences.
A Marriage Evasion statute, at its most basic, allows a state to disregard valid out-of-state marriages where such marriages are "against state policy." They were popular at the turn of the last century, and intended to prevent minors, divorcees, and mixed-race couples from going to another state with less stringent marriage laws to get hitched and then returning to their home states and demanding recognition. I sort of figured that after Loving v. Virginia, such a statute would fall by the wayside. Then Romney resuscitated it and other states took notice.
In my research, I was delighted to read Arkansas' surprisingly liberal stance. On foreign marriages, Arkansas says, come one come all!! Section 9-11-109 (a) says, "All marriages contracted outside this state which would be valid by the laws of the state or country in which the marriages were consummated and in which the parties then actually resided shall be valid in all courts of the state. Hurrah!! If a 14 year old married in Tanzania can get recognition here, surely I can, too. Then I got to section (b), "This section shall not apply to a marriage between persons of the same sex." Oh. Nevermind.
Arizona also will gladly recognize your valid marriage, the only criteria being that it be "valid by laws of the place where contracted." Okay, I'm with you so far, "except marriages that are void and prohibited by section 25-101." Anyone want to guess what marriages are prohibited by section 25-101? You guessed it, the gay kind.
So it goes in Colorado (with some really mind boggling language), Delaware (more straightforward, so to speak), Florida, Georgia, Idaho (with an explicit marriage evasion statute), Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, seriously, I'm only on P?!, South Carolina (this one is worth a read), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The Mini DOMA, it's the new Marriage Evasion Statute. But I'll tell you what, Wisconsin really takes the wedding cake.
Let's say you live in Wisconsin and you go to Massachusetts to get married. (Although Iowa's probably geographically closer, but the east coast is so nice this time of year.) So you get married. Congratulations. And then you head back home knowing full well that you're marriage won't be recognized. But what you don't know is that under 765.30(1)(a) of the Wisconsin code, "Any person residing and intending to continue to reside in this state who goes outside the state and there contracts a marriage prohibited or declared void under the laws of this state" -- and that means, you, gay couple who just got married -- can be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to 9 months, or both.
$10,000 and 9 months in prison.
That's right. Wisconsin will ignore your Massachusetts marriage license, but not before tossing you in jail for having it.
I couldn't find record of anyone actually being prosecuted under this law, but as long as it's on the books, gay couples married out of state are at risk. And not because Wisconsin is at risk of being smothered by gay marriage, but simply because Wisconsin wants to make sure you know how much they loathe it.
Ask Wisconsin to end the criminalization of gay marriage now.
by Maia Spotts
In 1996, when the Hawaii Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking opinion in Baehr v. Miike, gay couples cheered and the conservatives freaked out. The world seemed suddenly at risk of being overrun by happily married homosexuals. And so, to allay those fears, the government passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which said, in a nutshell, don't worry, even if they do get married in Hawaii, you can just ignore them when they come home.
And in 2003, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court brought down the house, and marriage inequality, with the Goodridge case, same-sex couples around the country geared up for a pilgrimage of mass proportion. Governor Mitt Romney, in an attempt to not add marriage equality to Massachusetts' long list of historical moments, invoked what is commonly known as a Marriage Evasion statute, to limit marriages to Massachusetts residences.
The Criminalization of Gay Marriage
by Maia Spotts September 01, 2010 06:02 AM (PT) Topics: Defense of Marriage Act, Marriage Equality
In 1996, when the Hawaii Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking opinion in Baehr v. Miike, gay couples cheered and the conservatives freaked out. The world seemed suddenly at risk of being overrun by happily married homosexuals. And so, to allay those fears, the government passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which said, in a nutshell, don't worry, even if they do get married in Hawaii, you can just ignore them when they come home.
And in 2003, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court brought down the house, and marriage inequality, with the Goodridge case, same-sex couples around the country geared up for a pilgrimage of mass proportion. Governor Mitt Romney, in an attempt to not add marriage equality to Massachusetts' long list of historical moments, invoked what is commonly known as a Marriage Evasion statute, to limit marriages to Massachusetts residences.
A Marriage Evasion statute, at its most basic, allows a state to disregard valid out-of-state marriages where such marriages are "against state policy." They were popular at the turn of the last century, and intended to prevent minors, divorcees, and mixed-race couples from going to another state with less stringent marriage laws to get hitched and then returning to their home states and demanding recognition. I sort of figured that after Loving v. Virginia, such a statute would fall by the wayside. Then Romney resuscitated it and other states took notice.
In my research, I was delighted to read Arkansas' surprisingly liberal stance. On foreign marriages, Arkansas says, come one come all!! Section 9-11-109 (a) says, "All marriages contracted outside this state which would be valid by the laws of the state or country in which the marriages were consummated and in which the parties then actually resided shall be valid in all courts of the state. Hurrah!! If a 14 year old married in Tanzania can get recognition here, surely I can, too. Then I got to section (b), "This section shall not apply to a marriage between persons of the same sex." Oh. Nevermind.
Arizona also will gladly recognize your valid marriage, the only criteria being that it be "valid by laws of the place where contracted." Okay, I'm with you so far, "except marriages that are void and prohibited by section 25-101." Anyone want to guess what marriages are prohibited by section 25-101? You guessed it, the gay kind.
So it goes in Colorado (with some really mind boggling language), Delaware (more straightforward, so to speak), Florida, Georgia, Idaho (with an explicit marriage evasion statute), Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, seriously, I'm only on P?!, South Carolina (this one is worth a read), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The Mini DOMA, it's the new Marriage Evasion Statute. But I'll tell you what, Wisconsin really takes the wedding cake.
Let's say you live in Wisconsin and you go to Massachusetts to get married. (Although Iowa's probably geographically closer, but the east coast is so nice this time of year.) So you get married. Congratulations. And then you head back home knowing full well that you're marriage won't be recognized. But what you don't know is that under 765.30(1)(a) of the Wisconsin code, "Any person residing and intending to continue to reside in this state who goes outside the state and there contracts a marriage prohibited or declared void under the laws of this state" -- and that means, you, gay couple who just got married -- can be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to 9 months, or both.
$10,000 and 9 months in prison.
That's right. Wisconsin will ignore your Massachusetts marriage license, but not before tossing you in jail for having it.
I couldn't find record of anyone actually being prosecuted under this law, but as long as it's on the books, gay couples married out of state are at risk. And not because Wisconsin is at risk of being smothered by gay marriage, but simply because Wisconsin wants to make sure you know how much they loathe it.
Ask Wisconsin to end the criminalization of gay marriage now.
