Same-Sex Marriage

Goals:

1. Give a basic history of marriage equality
2. Discuss the arguments to/for marriage equality in MA, NY, WA, MD, NY, CA cases (as mentioned in Cox "A painful process...")

1993: Baehr v. Lewin -- HI marriage ase

1996: Defens of Marriage Act (DOMA) to stop the "tsunami of gay marriage coming over from HI" (Clinton signed into law)

1998: Baehr v. Miike (state loses at trial level)

1998: HI amends constitution to "give power to the legislature to regulate marriage"

1999: Baker v. State (Vermont supreme court rules all rights and benefits of marriage)

2000: VT becomes the first state to enact civil unions

2000: CA passes Proposition 22 (62% - 38%)

2003: Massachusetts, Goodridge decided 4-3 that the state doesn't even have a rational basis for denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples

2/12/2004: Mayor of San Francisco starts issuing marriage licenses for about 4 weeks (until CA supreme court tells them to stop)

2005: NJ case Lewis v. Harris (no marriage, but state must offer equal benefits to same-sex couples)

2005: Schwarzenegger vetoes marriage equality law, claiming that "the people have spoken" that they didn't want gay marriage

2005: CA comprehensive Domestic Partnership law goes into effect

2005: CT enacts civil unions

2006: NY case Hernandez v. Robles

2006: WA Andersen v. Icing County (this and previous: 4-3, upholding traditional marriage laws)

2006: MD Conaway v. Deane (same as previous, but maybe decision was 5-2

2008: CA in Remarriage cases (4-3, strikes down marriage laws) and CT Kerrigan v. Department of Public Health claims that civil unions aren't enough (4-3, marriage licenses to same-sex couples [immediately])

2008: Proposition 8 passes...

2009: Iowa varnum v. brien 7-0 in favor of marriage equality issues marriage licenses immediately

2009: VT, ME, NH, DC pass laws enacting marriage equality

2010: US district court rules Prop 8 violates the US Constitution, but it's still in effect kind of?

Marriage and Citizenship

Goals:

1. Introduce and discuss coverture concept
2. Intersection of marriage rights and US citizenship
3. Citizenship restrictions and marginalized groups (married women, non-white, LGBT, HIV, etc...)

Coverture: The (ancient) legal concept that on marriage, a woman becomes the property of her husband (see p. 83 of "Justice for All?"); she is subsumed

• Find examples of modern echoes/vestiges of coverture
• Still countries/religions that practice coverture in an extreme (the woman has no rights)
• The woman takes the man's last name
• Woman is expected to move in with the man and join his household
• Husband's name comes first (Mr. and Mrs. _____________)
• Child takes the last name of the father
• Father of the bride gives away the daughter to the husband
• Father/Husband is the head of the household
• "Marital rape exception"
• Wedding vows "to honor and obey"
• "White dress" -- You should be pure
• The phrase "rule of thumb"

Sorry my notes are lackluster today. I'm having a bad one.