Here we go again. For those of you who haven't been paying much attention, this is Heather Blandford's second article regarding same-sex marriage. The issue of same-sex marriage deserves a more in-depth look than Blandford can offer. As a gay man and a member of a civil union from Vermont as well as a domestic partnership in the District of Columbia, I believe this gives me the right to respond to her blue-nosed bigotry.
I can no longer sit on the sidelines while couples across this country go without the equal protection of the laws set forth in our Constitution. Although the right to marry is not expressly dealt with in the text of the Constitution, it must be understood that the act of being able to associate, intimately or otherwise, with whomever one wishes is at the foundation of our great democracy. To Blandford and her cohorts, I'm not talking about the Rick Santorum sense. (You know dogs, cats, goats, etc.). I'm referring to the very nature of our relationships to be free from government intrusion. I'm sure you were all perplexed when the Supreme Court finally said that gays and lesbians had every right to enjoy sexual intercourse without your intrusion into their bedrooms. When one lives their lives only worrying about what their neighbors are doing in the privacy of their own homes it's only fitting that you must intrude in our other private matters as well.
For those of you who are unaware civil marriage in America comes along with 1,049 rights, rights that you may have no idea even exist. They range from hospital visitation, inheritance and family medical leave when a spouse is sick, to joint filings with the IRS. It's not a completely religious issue we're talking about here. First and foremost marriage is a contract that gays and lesbians are being denied the right to join.
More importantly, for my situation, my partner and I have been in a monogamous relationship for more than three years. I am 27 and he is 22. Although we have the civil union and the domestic partnership we are not entitled to file our taxes as a married couple would. This denies us the ability to claim one another as dependants for tax purposes. I know many of you do not have to worry about pecuniary interests at this age, but soon this will be the basis of your woes, money. In short, he is a student at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, and of course I am a student here at American. He is unable to claim our partnership, so he may be deemed an independent student.
However, if he were to marry some woman off the street at random he would be entitled to a dependency override because he would then be embracing heterosexuality. Hooray! The outdated policy of the U.S. Department of Education is what keeps him from getting that override - they say marriage and the term spouse only apply to opposite sex couples - the U.S. Department of Education says our relationship is not legitimate. And that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. As it stands he must include his parents' income on his FAFSA forms, if he does not he will be unable to receive any government aid to pay for school.
Why am I telling you this? Because my partner has been forced, by the U.S. Department of Education, to take out student loans that will put him in debt upward of $100,000 as a result of our relationship. He's going to be an artist, folks. Do you know any artists that can pay for a $ 100,000 loan? That is going to be impossible if we ever want a house and kids. I know that makes you fume Blandford, so we'll have extra kids since I know it pisses you and the Christian Right off so much.
My point is that civil marriage reaches far into our lives and affects every single part of them, whether we know it or not. Without these same protections that heterosexuals enjoy, we are unable to reap the benefits we deserve, and that is unfair and discriminatory.
To end I would like to thank Mayor Newsom of San Francisco for his courage in a time when it seems the religious right as well as many spineless Democrats have aligned themselves with the wrong side of history. I am pleased to say "I do" to my partner whom I love eternally and would give my life for. Take that Blandford!
David J. Kinsey is a junior in the School of Public Affairs.
