What's next? I haven't

What's next? I haven't written anything in the last day because frankly, I'm still waiting for to see if the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the sodomy laws of this land was just a cruel joke. Did it really happen? Could it be that people are finally understanding our community and that we will start to see some sense of equality in our community? It is no longer a crime for us to have sexual relations in our own bedrooms, no matter what state we are in?

Most people outside our community are probably wondering what the big deal it. Well, it's hard to explain what it feels like to be a second-class citizen. I grew up in Idaho. Do you realize that I am an un-convicted felon? I had private sexual relations with someone of my own sex in Idaho - a felony. I was never caught or convicted, but the very act of me acting on my feelings made me a criminal. If I had been convicted, under today's laws of sexual registration, I would have to have registered as a "sexual offender" if I'd moved to another state (depending on the laws of that state). It's unreal and scary.

This is the reality that my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters live in. Now that the sodomy laws are gone, it's no less an event for my community than the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. This June, the month most gay pride celebrations take place, we truly have something to be proud of! The sodomy laws have been used as an argument against gay marriage, adoptions, and other legal battles. With Canada now issuing a marriage license to gay people, I'm sure those people who go to Canada to get married will expect (rightfully so) to have that marriages honored in the United States. It won't be. But, the walls are coming down and with the repeal of all sodomy laws, it's going to be more difficult for anti-gay marriage laws to stand up.

Do you realize that there is very little to support the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)? In this country we have the separation of church and state (supposedly, although religious organizations just love to get into the business of lobbying for legal bills). In the past there were all kinds of criteria in place used to discriminate against gay people. Now, those are eroding rapidly. Marriage will be the "next sodomy" issue for the Supreme Court to take up. Many gay couples are heading for Canada to get a marriage certificate. When they come home to the United States, it will not be honored. This is a huge problem from a legal stance. In Vermont, they have in place what they call a "Civil Union". The Civil Union does not grant an federal benefits of marriage, because it is not recognized by the federal government. What it does is to grant marriage-like rights to gay couples who apply for and are granted a Civil Union. Most all of the state benefits of marriage are granted to these couples. This is great IF you stay in the state of Vermont and live there. If they move away, they lose everything. No other state will honor your Civil Union. In other words, it is not portable. Not only that, if you move to another state and give up your residency in Vermont, you won't even be able to dissolve the Civil Union. This happened to two gay couple who moved from Vermont to Texas. A Texas judge granted the couple a separation, but when the judge's decision was challenged by the attorney general of Texas, the judge rescinded his decision.

The problem our country now has to face is what to do with the full fledged marriages granted in Canada of US citizens. These are not civil unions. They are full marriages in every aspect. Canada makes absolutely no distinction of these from straight marriages. In the United States, how will they make a distinction? If they do it on the basis of sex - saying that because the couple are of the same sex they won't honor it, then they are saying that some Canadian marriages will not be honored. This will all culminate in many lawsuits at the state level. In the end, some states will begin to honor marriages of gay citizens and some never will not (just like sodomy laws). This will eventually wind it's way up to the Supreme Court who will rule on it. Let's hope that we don't have a repeat of Hardwick all over again - where they rule against gay marriage, and then 17 years later say they made a mistake.

Whatever the outcome, I don't believe I will live long enough to see marriage for all citizens enacted in the United States. But, it is good to see that progress is being made. In this last week, years of work against the sodomy laws came to an end in one huge victory. It's going to take me time to get my head around it, but one thing is for sure.... the timing couldn't have been better for GAY PRIDE MONTH!!!