Of rights and definitions (May 27)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
The upholding of Prop. 8 by the California Supreme Court did not in any way change the rights same-sex couples have under California’s domestic partnership statutes.
Under Family Code Section 297-297.5, same-sex couples may establish domestic partnerships by filing a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State’s Office.
The eligibility for such a partnership is that both the partners must be 18, must be of the same sex, must not be legally married to anybody else, must live together and must not be related by blood.
Opposite-sex couples aren’t eligible unless both parties are 62 or older.
The code grants domestic partners “the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law … as are granted to and imposed upon spouses.”
The same is true if the parties to a domestic partnership decide to dissolve it.
If one of the domestic partners dies, survivors have the same rights and responsibilities as those of a widow or widower.
It is important to realize all this because those who are upset over the court’s decision are saying their rights have been taken away, but those rights remain clearly encoded.
Prop. 8 defines marriage as being between a man and a woman — the traditional definition — and makes it part of the state Constitution. Its proponents said the proposition would defend marriage, the institution, from being devalued. But the institution was in no more danger than it ever is. What was in danger in the minds of many was an idea — their idea of marriage. It was an idea that did not make room for same-sex participation, whatever the basis. Not enough are willing to change that idea, it seems.
Fortunately, the law preserves the rights of same-sex couples to form and enjoy the benefits of domestic relationships.
