[ OUR OPINION ]
Institution of marriage
will survive gay unionsBACKLASH from the Supreme Court's decision five weeks ago striking down laws that make homosexual acts a crime extended to the White House and the Vatican during the past week. Such alarm that homosexual unions are on the verge of destroying the institution of marriage are preposterous. Hawaii has given legal recognition to gay partnerships -- albeit without calling them marriages -- for six years, and traditional husband-wife marriages are as strong as ever.
THE ISSUE
The Vatican has denounced same-sex marriage, and President Bush has suggested that it be made illegal.
Under orders from Pope John Paul II, the Vatican issued a 12-page document in English and several other languages declaring, "There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family." President Bush quickly weighed in with a comment that "we ought to codify" that marriage is between a man and a women.
Congress already did that in 1996, fearful that Hawaii would legalize same-sex marriages. The Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Clinton, prohibits federal recognition of gay marriages, denying them federal benefits such as those given to married couples under Social Security or to surviving spouses of deceased veterans. It also allows states to refuse to recognize gay marriages that might be allowed in other states, although that part of the law may be unconstitutional.
Gay marriages now are prohibited in all states. Hawaii voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1998 that empowers the Legislature to restrict marriages to those between men and women, which legislators already had done. State courts are considering cases that could legalize gay marriages in New Jersey and Massachusetts.
A Hawaii law enacted in 1997 recognizes what it calls "reciprocal beneficiaries," assuring gay partners certain rights that previously had been limited to spouses in heterosexual marriages. Those include rights to sue for wrongful death and loss of consortium, family and bereavement leaves, probate rights, hospital visitation and the authority to make health-care decisions affecting the partner. California also gives same-sex domestic partners various rights that had been confined to married couples.
The Vermont Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that the state must give homosexual couples all the rights and benefits afforded to married couples, including adoption and parental rights. As of a year ago, it had issued civil union licenses to more than 700 Vermont residents and nearly five times that many to residents of other states, without destroying the heterosexual marriages of their neighbors.
If gay marriages eventually are legalized in New Jersey or Massachusetts -- decisions that ultimately could be made by the U.S. Supreme Court years from now -- the institution of marriage will survive.
