When they're trying to get you to vote for that referendum that bans same-sex marriage*, they tell you that it's all about The Sanctity of Marriage, and Protecting Religious Freedom, and that of course it's not about Screwing Over Gay People. It's not going to disenfranchise anyone, they say -- it's about setting some common-sense limits.
Actions have consequences, though, and the people of Michigan are about to realize that their 2004 vote to prohibit same-sex marriage did, in fact, relegate an entire class of citizens to permanent second-class status. Because the Michigan Court of Appeals held today that the gay marriage ban also bans same-sex domestic partner benefits.
"The marriage amendment's plain language prohibits public employers from recognizing same-sex unions for any purpose," the court wrote.
A constitutional amendment passed by Michigan voters in November 2004 made the union between a man and a woman the only agreement recognized as a marriage "or similar union for any purpose." Those six words led to the court fight over benefits for gay couples. Gay couples and others had argued that the public intended to ban gay marriage but not block benefits for unmarried opposite sex or same-sex domestic partners.
The appeals court agreed with the Michigan attorney general, Republican Mike Cox, who said in a March 2005 opinion that same-sex benefits are not allowed in a state that does not recognize same-sex unions.
So even a quasi-autonomous public entity like the University of Michigan is now prohibited from offering some of its top employees domestic partner benefits. Unmarried opposite-sex partners, of course, can continue to enjoy the benefits. But gay employees and their families are SOL, even if they've been receiving family benefits for years. Is that what Michiganders expected when they passed their marriage ban? Who knows. But regardless of what they expected, this is what you actually get when you vote for a feel-good "protection of marriage" referendum. No matter what its purveyors tell you, if you read it closely enough, somewhere buried in the fine print, you'll find the wages of bigotry. Today, we're reminded that they eventually come due.
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*andawholelotofotherstuffthattheydon'twantyoutoknowabout