I was struck by this little "news brief" from the AP:
Gay Couples May Use Married Names on Passports
Gay couples traveling overseas can now show passports that feature their married names ... [the change] allows same-sex couples to obtain passports under the names recognized by their state through their marriages or civil unions.
Now I certainly "knew" that the Americans who live in the 6 states that no longer practice marriage discrimination were still being denied Federal marriage benefits, but until seeing this brief, I didn't realize what this might mean on a daily, human level.
It is hard to imagine anything more fundamental to your identity than your name. Ask any married woman who's adopted her husband's name if that name were hers, if it was not part of her identity and I doubt you'd get many who said it was not. Yet until this rule change, the U.S. government was in the business of unilaterally deciding what the names of married gay Americans should be, ignoring what they wanted or their own view of who they are.
Think about this. How would you feel if the government decided what your name should be?
This is why, even if marriage discrimination ended in all 50 states, the Federal government must also do so. Until then, gay marriage, even in the 12% of the country that permits it now, is separate and unequal.
Read more here.