10/05/2012 - Myclipp

Columbia. But if the newlyweds went back home to a
state that did not recognize their union, they would still
lack certain rights at the state level, including, say, the
ability to file their state tax returns jointly.But, as
Professor Wolff explained, states have long had the
ability to refuse to recognize marriages from other
states that violated their local policies. The
antigay-marriage law goes a step further, though,
because, he said, it explicitly singles out same-sex
marriages. How would this play out? States currently
have to recognize judgments from other states. So
even if the law no longer limited marriage to one man
and one woman, the second section would remain. As
a result, he said, it appears that states might have a
new power to disregard judgments from other states if
they arise from a same-sex relationship. “And that is
an important scenario, and it is one way to describe
how unprecedented and what bad policy that is,” he
added. Take a couple who married in Massachusetts.
If one spouse was killed in an accident and the living
spouse won a wrongful death judgment, the defendant
could potentially flee to Texas, he said, where
same-sex unions are not recognized, and avoid the
judgment. Family law is also largely governed by state
law, and it’s easy to see where complications could
arise if only part of DOMA was struck down,
particularly for a more vulnerable spouse when it came
to collecting child support or getting a divorce. The
issues that arise in states that don’t allow
second-parent adoptions wouldn’t be entirely resolved
either, experts said. In fact, even if DOMA were struck
down, families would face far fewer complications and
fuller equality by living in states that recognize their
unions. As Jennifer Pizer, the legal director at the
Williams Institute, said, “We may see migration
patterns.” In the meantime, the Obama administration
has tried to extend some benefits, though it falls far
short of what heterosexual married couples receive.
Same-sex partners of federal employees are offered
The New York Times/ - Politics, Sex, 11 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
long-term care insurance, for instance, but not health
insurance, which is available only to opposite-sex
spouses. The administration has also clarified the
Family and Medical Leave Act to ensure that same-sex
couples can care for children of their partners, even if
they are not legal parents, but care for same-sex
partners is not covered. (Companies and other
employers have adopted more comprehensive policies
on their own). The government has also required all
hospitals receiving Medicare or Medicaid money to
allow visitation rights for gay patients and their
families. And it has also made some other minor but
important changes that have flown below the radar,
like putting more gender-neutral language on passport
applications to recognize that some children are being
raised by two legal parents of the same sex. And last
year, the administration said it would no longer defend
the Defense of Marriage Act in court. But there are still
other issues that the government still has not
addressed, like figuring out ways to make it easier for
children with same-sex parents to fill out the federal
forms for student aid. Often times, the forms do not
allow the family to accurately portray its finances,
which means the amount of aid they get may not fairly
reflect their needs. Many companies have gone far
beyond what the law requires. Several already extend
gay-friendly family policies and benefits like domestic
partner insurance. The most generous employers have
gone a step further, as we’ve documented on our
Bucks blog, and now pay the extra taxes that many
same-sex couples incur when using health coverage
for their spouses. But when it comes to more
far-reaching change, legal experts continue to bet on
the courts, at least for now. “Given what Congress
looks like these days,” said Brian Moulton, legal
director at the Human Rights Campaign, “I think it’s
most likely we see progress for folks through the
litigation that’s happening.”
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