Gov and Marriage
Writing by treason on Tuesday, 27 of March , 2007 at 7:01 am
Our governor has been pushing for a special session in Santa Fe, but again our State Senate has weaseled out of taking action on legislation Bill needs for his presidential campaign. One piece in particular is centered on domestic partnerships - something I happen to know a little about. T and I celebrated our 16th anniversary yesterday. No, not the anniversary of our wedding. It’s the anniversary of our first date. We were coworkers and friends before that official first date - wait…ugh…stop. I hate when people say that and I just said it.
“We were friends before that.”
That’s always sounded so strange to me. (Oh, so you were friends, but then you became a couple, so you aren’t friends now?) Well, whatever we are, we are. We just aren’t married. So I should be for the government providing legislation that guarantees domestic partners the same rights as married couples, shouldn’t I?
Uh, not so fast. I’d really never given the matter much thought until health benefits came up. I’d mentioned this before: the non-profit where I’d been working was toying with the idea of extending medical coverage to the partners of its employees. Since several of the employees were homosexual, the staff was interested in hearing more. Our insurance rep met with us and explained what it would cost. When I told him that my domestic partner had just resigned from his corporate job and was working at home and had zero coverage, he told me that because I was living with the wrong gender we were out of luck. I turned to my gay coworkers:
“That’s not fair, is it?”
“Well, you can get married - we can’t.”
“Well, yeah, that’s true - I’ll give you that. But what we have is still a domestic partnership. We’ve bought a house. We’ve raised canine children together. Why is gender an issue?”
Why, indeed? Now if I say that’s discrimination, gay couples can come back with: “So’s not letting us get married.” Well, hell, we can go back and forth on this forever and never satisfy both sides. I know married couples who wish they’d stayed single because now they pay higher taxes. If a domestic partnership guarantees the rights of married couples to unmarried couples, will we have to start paying the marriage penalty, too?
I mean, there’s going to be a catch, right? See, it’s like my feelings toward healthcare — I would prefer a free market solution. I don’t need the government to grant me special rights - there are already resources in the private sector I can contact to set up any protections we might require.
Surely there’s a market for this out there: Why aren’t companies targeting the unmarrieds of the world? Just imagine the services attorneys and insurance companies could provide for a fee. Why, I can hear the ads already:
“Are you just shacking up? Feeling a little unprotected? Don’t think you have rights, too? Don’t depend on Uncle Sam - call us instead!
That number’s 1-800-742-2587! Call now! 1-800-SHACKUP!”
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