View Single Post
Old 07-28-2004, 12:02 AM   #2 (permalink)
Silvy
paranoid
 
Silvy's Avatar
 
Location: The Netherlands
For the link-challenged:

Quote:
FBI and passport officials say no to gay marriage

Gay men and lesbians who have legally married their same-sex partners in Massachusetts are finding that they don't have access to the same rights as straight couples once they return to their home states. The latest reports surfaced on Tuesday with the story of a New Hampshire gay man who is having trouble changing his passport license and with an account of the FBI's revoking health insurance benefits for a lesbian employee's partner in Connecticut.

Donald Henneberger, formerly Donald Smith, recently received a letter from the National Passport Center in Portsmouth, N.H., denying his request for a name change on his passport. The center said it would not recognize a marriage license for a same-sex couple as proof of a name change. The center addressed the letter to "Mr. Henneberger."

Henneberger married his partner of 23 years, Arthur Henneberger, in May, when same-sex marriages became legal in Massachusetts. On the marriage license the couple checked a box that automatically changes the last names of the partners to whatever they request. The letter from the National Passport Center cites the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which states that a marriage can only be a union between a man and a woman and that a spouse can refer to only a person of the opposite sex. Donald Henneberger said he had no trouble with the Social Security Administration, another federal agency, when he requested a card in his new name.

He and his partner now have gone to probate court to get further proof of Henneberger's name change. "The woman at probate court said, 'What do you want to do--change your name to Henneberger? It's already Henneberger,"' Donald Henneberger said.

Rep. Richard Neal's office advised the Hennebergers to return to court and that this time the court would initiate the name change. The couple had sought the Democratic congressman's help. "You have to publicize your intent, demonstrate that you are not changing your name for fraudulent purposes, and then you have to appear before a judge," said Jennifer Levi, a professor at Western New England School of Law. She said the probate court name-change process is cumbersome. Henneberger balks at spending $180 in court fees and waiting for the eight-week process to run its course. "It's discriminatory," he said. Meanwhile, the FBI has rescinded health benefits that it says were mistakenly given to the same-sex partner of an agent after the couple wed in Massachusetts. Katy Gossman, an agent with the FBI in New Haven, Conn., received an e-mail from the bureau informing her that her wife, Kristin, would be removed from her health plan.

FBI spokesman Bill Carter said Tuesday the approval had been a mistake and an oversight. The U.S. government does not allow same-sex spousal benefits, Carter said.

The couple, who live in Meridien, Conn., had been receiving spousal benefits since May 30, Katy Gossman said. They were wed after gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts in May. Katy Gossman sent a copy of her marriage license to FBI headquarters in Washington seeking benefits for Kristin, whom she listed as her spouse. She also said the New Haven office called FBI headquarters to give them a "heads-up" about the situation. "I didn't try to hide it," Katy Gossman, 40, said Tuesday.

Kristin Gossman, 38, is a full-time student and had no health benefits before their marriage, Katy Gossman said. The Gossmans have not decided whether to fight the decision.

Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal has said that state law does not allow for same-sex marriages, but he declined to say whether Connecticut will recognize marriage licenses issued to gay couples in Massachusetts. The Gossmans are among eight couples who have filed a lawsuit challenging a 1913 Massachusetts law that was used to block other out-of-state couples from marrying in that state. Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has said that any gay marriages involving out-of-state couples would be declared void.
This will need to be fought... There is only one way this'll clear up, and that is when gay marriage is sufficiently recognized as having the same legal status as opposite-sex marriage.
__________________
"Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace. "
- Murphy MacManus (Boondock Saints)
Silvy is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360