As I have said in earlier posts, even though I support
marriage equality, I would much prefer that the government got out of the
marriage business altogether, save to set a minimum age at which people can
enter into a union. And it would be
exactly that—a union. It would allow
couples visitation and inheritance rights and specify custody and other
responsibilities. It would also allow one member of the couple to add the other
to her or his health care policy and apartment lease agreement or title to the
house. However, there would be no tax benefit for getting married.
One reason why I believe in such an arrangement even
more firmly in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling became apparent to me
today. Now same-sex marriage is legal
throughout the US, employers will be required to allow workers to add their
same-sex spouses to their health insurance policies. This begs the question: Will employers stop offering domestic-partner
benefits? Will they require couples,
whether hetero- or homo-sexual, to be married in order to share in the benefits
the company offers?
One of the great ironies of my life is that I was once
included in a partner’s health-care benefits—when I was still living as a man
with a female partner. We had a domestic
partnership agreement, which New York City was offering to all couples at that
time (late 1990’s and early 2000’s). If
I were still with her—whether in my former or current identity—would she be
allowed to include me on her health insurance?
I’m guessing that the answer would be “yes” just
because this is New York City and her company had a surprisingly (to me at the
time, anyway) enlightened view of such things.
But what if we’d been in one of those states where same-sex marriage—and
even domestic partnerships—weren’t legal before last week’s ruling? It’s hard for me to imagine that a company
based in a state that didn’t have domestic partnerships would allow partners’
benefits, especially if it was compelled by court order to offer insurance to
same-sex couples.
Somehow I think the battles not only aren’t over; they
haven’t even begun yet.
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