Published: Aug
09, 2003 - 10:59:49 PM EDT
Delaware gays hope for marriage
rights
Corey Marshall-Steele, left, and
Douglas Marshall-Steele are a gay couple who reside in Milton.
They had their union blessed by an Episcopal priest eight
years ago. The Marshall-Steeles, who legally adopted the
hyphenated surname - their former surnames in alphabetical
order - also took steps to be in each other's will and to give
each other power of attorney, steps that would have been
unnecessary if they had the same status as married
heterosexuals. Delaware State News/Jason Minto
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By Joe Rogalsky, Delaware State News
DOWNSTATE - A U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a Texas
law banning consensual homosexual activity has many wondering
whether same-sex couples will eventually have the rights and
privileges afforded traditional married couples.
In Delaware the spotlight remains on House Bill 99, which would
outlaw discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation.
"Right now, the concern in Delaware is banning discrimination
based on someone's sexual orientation," Gov. Ruth Ann Minner
said.
"Simply making sure that people are treated equally under the law
when it comes to jobs, housing and accommodations is the current
discussion in Delaware, and that is the one we are focused on."
HB 99 cleared the state House of Representatives in June and
awaits Senate consideration.
Nationally, however, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution
limiting marital rights to a man and woman is being discussed and
President Bush has said he would support such restrictions.
"To me, marriage is a man and a woman," President Bush said in a
news conference last month.
A law permitting homosexual marriage would not force churches to
perform ceremonies on same-sex couples, but would create civil
unions that would grant married homosexuals the same benefits that
heterosexual couples enjoy.
Granting legal status to homosexual unions would make it easier
to inherit jointly owned property when a partner dies, such as a
bank account, for example.
It also could allow a partner to be covered on a spouse's health
insurance policy, much the way a husband can be covered on the
insurance policy provided by the wife's employer.
Some businesses, such as Wal-Mart, already provide such benefits
to homosexual couples.
Any law would focus on legal issues, such as granting a marriage
license or allowing a spouse to receive survivor's benefits, not
religious aspects.
The Catholic and Methodist churches do not offer any sort of
religious blessing for homosexual couples, but Delaware's Episcopal
diocese is one of three nationally that offer such ceremonies.
The Vatican recently released a statement extolling all Catholic
lawmakers to oppose legislation permitting same-sex marriages.
"To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is
gravely immoral," the Vatican said in its statement.
"No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that
marriage exists solely between a man and a woman."
Douglas and Corey Marshall-Steele, of Milton, had their union
blessed eight years ago. The couple sent out engraved invitations to
the ceremony, which was performed by an Episcopal priest, exchanged
rings and had a wedding cake.
The men also set a Delaware legal precedent by combining their
last names to reflect their relationship.
"For gay people not to have marriage sends a very strong message
that we are second-class citizens," Douglas Marshall-Steele
said.
"We definitely feel we are on the back of the bus."
While heterosexual couples gain about 2,000 rights and
responsibilities upon marriage, none are bestowed upon homosexual
couples because no legal way exists for them to wed.
The Marshall-Steeles took legal steps to be in each other's will
and to give each other power of attorney, steps that would have been
unnecessary if they had the same status as heterosexuals.
Douglas Marshall-Steele likens the legal obstacles to homosexual
marriage to the long-repealed statutes banning interracial marriage.
He noted the U.S. Supreme Court nixed the prohibition on interracial
marriage in 1967.
"Once gay people can marry in one state, it will become required
in all states," he said.
Court cases in Massachusetts and New Jersey seek to force those
states to provide homosexual couples civil unions, which would give
them the same legal rights as married heterosexuals.
A ruling in the Massachusetts case is expected soon, probably
this month. The New Jersey case was filed earlier this year and is
not near a decision.
"Nationally, the public is becoming more understanding and
accepting of homosexuals," said Lara Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the
national Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual rights group.
"An overwhelming majority of people agree that homosexuals should
have the same rights as heterosexuals."
A bill that would allow civil unions in Delaware failed in 1996
and has not been revived since. The same year, then-Gov. Thomas R.
Carper signed legislation explicitly defining marriage in Delaware
as a union between a man and woman.
House Speaker Terry R. Spence, R-New Castle, said he did not
anticipate any attempts to legalize civil unions in the upcoming
legislative session.
"I don't see that happening," Rep. Spence said.
"There have been no discussions that I know of to this point. I
have not heard anything."
Homosexuals in Delaware have seen their political muscle
strengthened. At least two homosexuals have been elected to offices,
and a political action group surveys candidates to see their views
on issues important to the homosexual community.
The Stonewall Democrats, a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered Democrats, recently held a fund-raiser in Rehoboth
Beach that drew Gov. Minner and many other Democratic officials. The
event featured Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the only openly gay
member of Congress.
"We hope to give a voice to our community," said Tim Spies, a
Rehoboth Beach resident who heads the group.
"We hope to play a role in selecting candidates as well as
representing the concerns of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered people in Delaware."
Though marriages of heterosexual couples in one state must be
honored in other states, homosexual civil unions do not have the
same benefit.
Civil unions in Vermont, for example, do not have to be honored
in Delaware. That's because in 1996 Congress passed and President
Clinton signed a law legally defining marriage on the federal level
as only pertaining to a heterosexual couple.
The Defense of Marriage Act, as the bill was called, also allowed
states to disregard same-sex unions from other states.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the Texas
statute banning homosexual acts and the pending cases in New Jersey
and Massachusetts has opponents of gay marriage worried that the
Defense of Marriage Act could be overturned and homosexuals may gain
the right to marry.
Those concerns have spurred talk of amending the U.S.
Constitution to explicitly define marriage as a man-woman union, but
some lawmakers want the marriage issue left to the states, which
have to this point overseen the practice.
"The states are well-equipped to deal with marriage within their
own borders," said Sen. Carper.
"My inclination is to leave to the states the prerogative of
making these decisions. We amend the constitution very rarely. I am
not sure if this rises to that level."
Staff writer Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or
jrogalsky@newszap.com
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