New York to recognize gay marriages from other states. And Canada.

[icarus]

New York is going to recognize gay marriages from other states.

Aside from the fact that this is wonderful, this is going to clear up a major bureaucratic hassle. I've heard that divorces are particularly problematic when your marriage is not recognized in the first place. State agencies have been left boggled not knowing what to do.

And think of the child custody of married gay couples, now secure (hopefully). The health insurance benefits. Having access to your partner if they're in the hospital, able to make decisions on their behalf if they're incapacitated. Your will being reconized. Hell, even stupid stuff like the phone company letting you ask questions about you and your partner's phone bill.

In honor of this, I bring back my not-cloying-I-promise gay marriage fic, written when the first gay servicemen got married in Ontario:

Fools Can Dream, Stargate SG-1, Jack/Daniel, PG-13
Jack thought it would be cool to have the wedding in space.

Comments

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

I think it's just getting to the point where the state legislatures can make this official without having hordes of conservative voters going after them with torches and pitchforks. The cross-state recognition was/is inevitable anyway -- it's in the Constitution that states will recognize each other's laws for stuff like this, and any "We don't care what your state does, to us you're a coupla pervs!" law that hit the Supreme Court would've gone down like a kleenix in a hay fever study. [eyeroll]

I definitely agree, though, that it's great that the public face of the country is finally pulling its head out of its ass and acknowledging the facts.

Angie

[indusnm.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I see this as the ultimate copout, but a brilliant one because it has the best chance of working with the least issues. As long as gay marriage is legal in another state, of course...

I'll agree, this is inevitable under full faith- marriages are the first thing that are recognized state to state. But still- it's saying we'll accept it, as long as you do it somewhere else. I only hope this leads to the impetus to make it completely legal in the future.

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

Sure, it's not at all a satisfying way for it to happen, but it will happen one way or the other and I think that's a Good Thing just sort of generally.

States with a lot of inter-state immigration would probably be the first to figure it out. And heck, with California legalizing gay marriage (assuming the asshats don't win in November with their proposed state constitutional amendment [crossed fingers]) there are going to be gay people moving to other states in large numbers fairly soon. (I'm speaking relatively here.) Californians move out of state in droves, seeking reasonable housing costs and all; there are already states with large populations of ex-pat Californians. Give it another generation and a lot of those ex-Californians are likely to be gay people who got married at some point, then decided to move away when they retired.

Or however it works. But the US is all one big bowl of water with purely imaginary borders between states, and eventually the drop of ink inserted carefully into one or another state will mix through all the others.

Of course, I'd much prefer to have Americans come to their senses en masse and just legalize it already, whether in all the states or doing it at the federal level like Canada did. But either way, it's going to happen, and I can take a certain amount of satisfaction in that.

Angie

[indusnm.livejournal.com]

Absolutely (and I'm one of the Calis who left her state but plans to go back in two years...)! Personally I don't think it'll be overturned this time. There's a huge difference between 2000 and 2008 and well- I'm doing my part this november election!

But you're right, progress is progress and should be celebrated.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I have no complaints about how they do it, just so long as they do.

[ariadne83]

"Today I feel less like I am officiating at the beginning of a marriage, and more like I'm witnessing one that already exists." *tears up* That's how I felt about my wedding. I love that Jack snarks all the way through - it's just so *them*