Lesbian, gay, bi and trans
Big win for same-sex couples
By Leslie Feinberg
New York
The demand to root out institutionalized
discrimination against same-sex couples is scoring successes,
small and large. A big victory--because it is
precedent-setting--was won in April in the case of a gay man
here who fought for his right to sue for wrongful death as
legal spouse of his partner, Neal Spicehandler.
Many people here read about 25 people being deliberately run
over by the car of an out-of-control individual in a three-day
period last February.
But for lesbian and gay, bi and trans people,
institutionalized oppression can turn accidents into even
greater nightmares for lack of rights after the headlines have
faded.
Spicehandler was one of the people mowed down in February.
His broken leg required two surgeries at St. Vincent's Medical
Center. Three days later, he died of an embolism.
His partner of almost two decades, John Langan, had no
rights to sue on the basis of medical negligence because he was
not considered a spouse in the eyes of the law.
In November 2000, soon after same-sex civil unions were won
in Vermont, Langan and Spicehandler exchanged rings and vows in
a ceremony there. The two lovers had already lived together for
15 years.
So Langan sued for the right to sue, and has won a court
battle in a ground-breaking decision. In a 25-page ruling made
public on April 15, Nassau County Supreme Court Justice John
Dunne conceded, "It is impossible to justify, under equal
protection principles, withholding the same recognition from a
union which meets all the requirements of a marriage in New
York but for the sexual orientation of the partners."
"This decision is a tremendous victory," stressed Adam
Aronson, a lawyer with Lamda--the group that represented
Langan. "This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a court
outside of the state of Vermont has recognized the parties to a
civil union as spouses."
The Republican judge emphasized that his ruling could only
be applied to the wrongful death lawsuit. Dunne may want to set
that limitation in his own carefully worded decision. But the
pressure to rule on this case is a result of a struggle outside
the courtroom that he doesn't preside over.
And this demand for recognition of same-sex families is
continuing to exert pressure so that equal rights can be
enjoyed in life, not just in death.
Reprinted from the May 1, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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