Gay couples do not have the right to file joint tax returns. They may not be able to visit their spouse in the hospital or make medical decisions if the spouse is incapable. Gay people do not have the right to their spouse's Social Security or retirement. The list goes on and on.
The biggest difference is that gay people cannot serve in the military. Don't ask, don't tell is a joke. How can gay people be considered citizens of this country when they cannot have the honor of serving our military and our country?
The right to file a joint tax return is a tax privilege, not a civil and inalienable right. They are actually able to see their spouses in the hospital, so that's an erroneous example. Social Security and access to retirement: see above re: privileges not civil rights.
Gay people can't serve "openly" in the military. That's not a civil right, either, though.
I hate soundbites, and this one doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
Your rights only exist to the extent they are enforced by the Courts and by the government.
And if the rights of gay people are not enforced, they do not exist.
So what don't *you* get?
What are you talking about?
It's about equality under the law. The law allows special tax privileges to married couples,
So single people are ALSO being discriminated against?
the law provides social security benefits to married couples,
Last I heard, Social Security benefits had been officially declared NOT a right.
the law provides automatic health benefits for spouses,
Wrong. Health benefits are provided by the employer, not the law, and it is up to the employer to decide how it defines "family members", as it should be, since it's their money. Increasing numbers of employers, such as The Disney Co., provide benefits to homosexual couples and domestic partnerships.
the law provides automatic property & inheritance rights by virtue of marital status alone,
And if you believe that crap, you've never tried to deal with an inheritance with no written will. Not only does it take a damned fool to assume a marriage license will take care of this, but this is a problem easily rectified by $50 to purchase a set of will preparation forms at your local bookstore.
the law provides health visitation by virtue of marital status alone. Homosexuals couples are denied this special status.
Again, the law doesn't HAVE to provide health visitation, because hospitals don't have a maitre'd and a velvet rope. Also, if this were really as simple as just having a marriage license, we wouldn't have had all the sound and fury about living wills that we've had over the last few years. And like the inheritance thing, it's a problem easily solved with $50 and a legal form you can purchase at any bookstore.
Granted, inheritance & property rights and hospital visitation can become "equal" for homosexuals by virtue of hiring a lawyer to make things equal, which costs money, therefore not really "equal" status.
Sure it is, because it's a good idea for everyone anyway, and even hetero couples are advised to do so rather than simply depending on the law to get it right when they aren't available to state their wishes.
If your goal here is to have the right to be a lazy, cheap dumbass who tries to just skate on "I have a marriage license", you're not going to get a lot of sympathy.
It's true homosexual civil rights are already protected, but "equality under the law" does not exist for these couples.
Sure it does. The law is applied equally to them. If they meet the requirements for these privileges and recognitions, they get them. If they don't, they don't.
You could find a Unitarian Universalist Church to "marry" a homosexual couple even if the state does not legally recognize the marriage. The states do not deny their "right", but it's a religious ceremony and nothing else.
Ahhh. So the relationship only exists if society at large recognizes it? Interesting.
In those states where gay marriage (or civil union) IS recognized by the state, the inheritance rights and the visitation equality are there, the health care coverage is there, but still no social security is provided and that is still inequality under the law.
Only if you can prove that heterosexuals have the ability to get Social Security benefits for people of the same sex.
