Google says “no” to California’s proposed gay marriage ban
While there are many objections to this proposition—further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text—it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8.
What a huge sign of respect for Google’s gay employees. I’d like to see more progressively-minded California companies make their position on Proposition 8 public. I’ve donated to No on 8—if equal rights for gays and lesbians is important to you, and you’ve got the cash to spare, you should consider doing so too.
Couple fight California’s gender-neutral language in wedding license
You can’t make this stuff up:
In May, after the California State Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal, the courts mandated state officials to provide gender-neutral licenses and other marriage forms. “Bride” and “groom” became “Party A” and “Party B.”
[Newly-married heterosexual couple] Bird and Codding have refused to complete the new forms, a stand that has already cost them. Because their marriage is not registered with the state, Bird cannot sign up for Codding’s medical benefits or legally take his name. They are now exploring their options, she said.
Bird and Codding say they are trying to figure out what to do next. Bird said she does not know what she will do if she should become ill and need insurance. “I really don’t know,” she said.
With millions of gay couples in America locked out of the benefits of marriage by unconstitutional state laws banning marriage for gays and lesbians, it’s such a slap in the face for this couple to suggest that they’re being discriminated against because they don’t like the terminology on the form. Perhaps their struggle will open their eyes to the hurtful and discriminatory position that gay people are subjected to in this country.
But something tells me probably not.
August 27, 2008
Because I’m sure a few people who read my blog probably have no idea who Del Martin is, here’s a list of things we can thank her for, taken from her obituary (PDF):
- Martin co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis, the first public and political lesbian rights organization in the United States
- Martin helped create the Council on Religion and the Homosexual in order to lobby city lawmakers more effectively to reduce police harassment and modify the sex laws that criminalized homosexual behavior.
- As an early member of the National Organization for Women (NOW), Del Martin worked to counter homophobia within the women’s movement—fear of the so-called “lavender menace.” She and Lyon were the first lesbians to insist on joining with a “couples’ membership rate.”
- She was a leader in the campaign to persuade the American Psychiatric Association to declare that homosexuality was not a mental illness.
- Martin’s publication of Battered Wives in 1976 was a major catalyst for the movement against domestic violence.
This is just a small example of the many ways in which we should all be incredibly grateful to Del and Phyllis for dedicating their lives to stopping the hatred and discrimination that mars the lives of gay and lesbian people.
