The Marriage Law Project at The Catholic University of America

TOP6NEWS - September 10, 2004

1-NEWS: Pew Poll shows religious level impacts support for ssm

2-NEWS: German court rules foreign ssm not valid

3-NEWS: MA hospital changing benefits because of ssm

4-NEWS: Mayday for Marriage rally Oct. 15

5-NEWS: NM poll shows 2/3 support for m

6-FEATURE: Profile of gay couple in CA who have filed federal suit

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1-NEWS: Pew Poll shows religious level impacts support for ssm

Complete Poll Report
(SSM begins on page 45)
Summary Poll Report
Poll: Religious Groups Oppose Gay Unions
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 9, 2004
Filed at 9:21 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Gay-Marriage.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans in most religious categories want laws to define marriage as between a man and a woman, with support among black Protestants virtually as high as among white evangelical Protestants, according to a survey issued Thursday.

The 4,000 respondents chose among three options: legal status only for heterosexual marriage (55 percent of the total sample in favor), legalized civil unions (18 percent) or legalized same-sex marriage (27 percent).

The wording did not refer specifically to the proposed Constitutional amendment backed by President Bush and many Republicans and religious conservatives.

The only groups giving majority backing to same-sex marriage were Jews (55 percent), white Catholics identified as ``modernist'' in belief (51 percent), followers of faiths other than Judaism or Christianity (50 percent) and the growing category of those with no religious affiliation (50 percent).

There was plurality support for man-woman marriage among white ``mainline'' Protestants (47 percent) and of only 48 percent among white Roman Catholics -- despite strong stands by the Vatican and U.S. bishops. But support reached 52 percent among Latino Catholics, 71 percent among Latino Protestants, 72 percent among black Protestants and 75 percent among white evangelical Protestants.

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2-NEWS: German court rules foreign ssm not valid

Foreign gay marriages not recognised in Germany
10 September 2004
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52&story_id=11720&name=Foreign+gay+marriages+not+recognised+in+Germany+

KARLSRUHE - A court in Germany Friday ruled that a gay marriage licence issued under foreign law does not constitute matrimony under German law.

The Karlsruhe Administrative Court rejected a complaint by a Taiwanese man who said his Dutch gay marriage to a Netherlands man entitled him to a residence permit to live in Germany under European Union immigration regulations.

Under those regulations, the foreign spouse of a citizen of an EU country is entitled to apply for a residency permit in an EU country.

However, in handing down its ruling, the court said that the EU regulations allowed each country to define what constituted a "spouse" in legal terms. In Germany, marriage licenses are issued only to male-female couples.

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3-NEWS: MA hospital changing benefits because of ssm

St. Anne’s won’t give benefits to same-sex couples
WILL RICHMOND , Herald News Staff Reporter
09/10/2004
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12894066&BRD=1710&PAG=461&dept_id=99784&rfi=6
FALL RIVER -- Gay and lesbian employees at St. Anne’s Hospital who provide health care benefits for their spouses will no longer be able to provide those services to their loved ones.

Beginning Oct. 1, St. Anne’s is changing all of its health plans to self-funded plans. The move allows the hospital’s managing group, Caritas Christi Health Care, to stop extending insurance benefits to same-sex spouses of employees.

Under a self-funded plan, the employer pays funds for the plan based on its actual claims experience and hires a plan administrator to process the claims.

A letter to employees dated Sept. 3 explained the change. "Since same-sex marriage is in conflict with church teachings, all Caritas Christi Hospitals are changing to self-funded plans."

St. Anne’s Hospital is part of Caritas Christi’s Catholic Health Care System, which is associated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The group operates six hospitals throughout eastern Massachusetts.

A representative for the Archdiocese of Boston referred all questions to spokesmen at St. Anne’s.
St. Anne’s spokeswoman Wendy Bauer said that it is the ideal of following those teachings that played a role in making the switch.

"Federal law states that employers with self-funded plans are not required to extend insurance benefits to same-sex spouses or employees," Bauer said.

Bauer said she did not know how many St. Anne’s employees are in same-sex marriages, but that to this point she had not heard any negative feedback regarding the changes.

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Michele Granda, staff attorney for the activist group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said that the Caritas group should still provide same-sex spouses of employees with benefits regardless of Catholic teachings.

"They can make the teachings known without penalizing employees’ spouses," Granda said. "They get paid the same and they earn the same benefits through the week -- it should be good for all spouses."

Granda said that this is the first instance she has heard of employers making changes to health plans to deny same-sex couples shared benefits.

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4-NEWS: Mayday for Marriage rally Oct. 15

'Mayday for Marriage' rally goal: 1 million on D.C.’s National Mall
Sep 9, 2004
By Michael Foust
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=19065
WASHINGTON (BP)--Seattle pastor Ken Hutcherson has a vision: one million Christians marching on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in support of the traditional definition of marriage.

He hopes to see that accomplished Friday, Oct. 15, when a rally -- "Mayday for Marriage" -- will take place in the nation's capital. James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Chuck Colson and Richard Land are among the pro-family leaders scheduled to speak.

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5-NEWS: NM poll shows 2/3 support for m

Friday, September 10, 2004
Journal Poll: Gay Marriage a No-Go in N.M.
By David Miles
Copyright © 2004 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Capitol Bureau
http://www.abqjournal.com/elex/220736elex09-10-04.htm
SANTA FE— Nearly two-thirds of New Mexico voters would oppose a state law allowing gays to marry, while public opinion is more evenly divided on same-sex civil unions, a Journal poll has found.

Sixty-two percent of the registered voters polled said they would oppose legalizing same-sex marriages, while 28 percent favored the idea. In contrast, 49 percent opposed a state law allowing same-sex civil unions; 44 percent supported the proposal.

The results closely tracked a Journal poll conducted in March.
Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff on Thursday said the results of the latest poll suggested same-sex marriage legislation would "fail miserably" in New Mexico.

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6-FEATURE: Profile of gay couple in CA who have filed federal suit

CALIFORNIA
Low-Profile Marriage Law Pioneers
A Mission Viejo couple are at odds with foes of same-sex marriage and even top gay groups.
By Claire Luna, LA Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-samesex10sep10,1,4980792.story
An unassuming Mission Viejo couple, self-described homebodies in baggy jeans and bifocals, don't give the immediate impression of being at the forefront of the same-sex marriage movement.

And, being the first Californians to file a federal lawsuit challenging state and federal marriage laws, Christopher Hammer and Arthur Smelt have found themselves at odds not only with those who think same-sex marriage is unlawful but also with the nation's largest gay-rights organizations.

I'm not a sign-carrying, marching, protesting kind of person," said Hammer, 44. "I see us as normal people, like Rosa Parks, standing up for a basic civil right."

He and Smelt, who met through a dating service in January 1996, have twice been rebuffed this year in their attempts to get an Orange County marriage license. They filed a lawsuit — the fourth case of its kind nationwide — on Sept. 1 against the county of Orange and the county clerk, their attorney said Thursday.

Attorneys with the county counsel's office did not immediately return calls seeking comment about the pending action.
Richard C. Gilbert, a Florida attorney who has filed theirs and three similar federal lawsuits, says bypassing the state courts is the most direct route to the U.S. Supreme Court — which would have the final say on the issue.

But groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have taken a different strategy, challenging state marriage laws or state constitutions rather than federal ones. Many oppose such federal filings, saying they will probably result in bad case law and sidestep the state courts they feel are more progressive.

"History has shown that civil rights advances are most likely to occur first in state courts, so we think that's the wiser course," said Jon W. Davidson, senior counsel at Lambda Legal's Los Angeles office. "The U.S. Supreme Court has signaled that they're not ready yet to rule on marriage, so one of the ways we can get them ready is by winning in state courts under state constitutions."

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