I am sitting with one more email from a queer person who is scared about the stated intent of at least one Supreme Court member and countless Republicans who want to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which gave LGBTQ+ couples the legal right of marriage. They are asking if they should move up their wedding plans in the hopes their marriage can be grandfathered in should such a ruling occur.
For those who are not LGBTQ+
and are married, can you imagine what it feels like to have the love you share,
which brings you so much joy and bears so much fruit in the world, outlawed?
Can you imagine being stripped of the rights you share as a married couple
(which include but are not limited to):
- Visiting your spouse in a
hospital intensive care unit or during restricted visiting hours in other
parts of a medical facility.
- Making medical decisions if
your spouse becomes incapacitated and unable to express wishes for
treatment.
- Making burial or other final
arrangements.
- Filing for stepparent or joint
adoption.
- Receiving a share of marital
property if you divorce.
- Receiving Social Security,
Medicare, and disability benefits for spouses.
- Receiving veterans' and
military benefits for spouses, such as those for education, medical care,
or special loans.
- Filing joint income tax returns
with the IRS and state taxing authorities.
- Obtaining priority if your
spouse needs a conservator--that is, someone to make financial or medical
decisions on your spouse's behalf.
- Obtaining insurance benefits
through a spouse's employer.
- Taking family leave to care for
your spouse during an illness.
- Receiving wages, workers'
compensation, and retirement plan benefits for a deceased spouse.
- Taking bereavement leave if
your spouse or one of your spouse's close relatives dies.
- Receiving crime victims'
recovery benefits if your spouse is the victim of a crime.
- Obtaining immigration and
residency benefits for noncitizen spouse.
- Visiting rights in jails and
other places where visitors are restricted to immediate family.
- Automatically renewing leases
signed by your spouse.
- Receiving family rates for
health, homeowners', auto, and other types of insurance.
- Other consumer discounts and
incentives offered only to married couples or families.
(from https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/marriage-rights-benefits-30190.html)
I grieve a society (and a church) that fails to honor
and support love. I grieve couples that feel an urgency to marry because they fear
they might lose the chance to do it in the future. I grieve couples that have
built a life together that cannot rest in the security legal marriage provides
but must yet again defend their love from attack.
In a world so divided by hate, may we stand together
for love?
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