Remember that President Obama said during his campaign, and posted officially on the White House website, that same-sex couples should have "all the benefits that are available for a legally sanctioned marriage" (click for Obama video).
UPDATE 7/15/09: Huffington Post writer mirrors this Blog's discernment
-- From "States grant more rights to gay couples" by Carol J. Williams, posted at the Chicago Tribune 5/6/09
. . . referring to rights incrementally accorded gay couples that have led to virtual equality between same-sex and heterosexual unions in states where gay marriage remains banned, a growing trend . . .
These rights are expanding as legally married gay couples relocate to states that don't allow gay marriage, forcing courts, legislatures and employers to deal with a new wrinkle on issues of custody, divorce, inheritance and end-of-life decisions.
In New York, which does not allow gay marriage but recognizes those conducted elsewhere, recent court decisions have granted a divorce to two gay men and surviving-spouse benefits to another. In California, federal judges have twice overruled decisions by the federal government to deny health-care coverage to gay employees' legal spouses, teeing up a constitutional challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which forbids federal benefits to same-sex couples.
Rights advocates predict the tide eventually will sweep into some of the 30-plus states that have passed laws or constitutional amendments defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
"A body of law is emerging because it has no choice. Cases have been filed, and they have to be decided one way or another," said Joseph Milizio, a Long Island, N.Y., lawyer specializing in gay and lesbian representation.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
(Shhh . . . the church is sleeping)
