Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Marriage equality is going to fall.

Marriage equality is going to fall. Soon, much sooner than we expected. Potentially very soon. I’ve been saying this all along and pleading with everyone to strengthen functional marriage equivalents (domestic partnerships, civil unions, etc) especially in states like Pennsylvania.

PA has a ‘trigger law’ –  a Defense of Marriage Act that would go into effect when the Supreme Court rules. 

I’ve explained this repeatedly. I’ll put a post on my blog today laying out my argument. 

This is about me – I need your help to have my 16 year domestic partnership considered in the divorce proceedings rather than just our 2.5 year marriage. I just want to be able to  support myself decently after pouring everything into a 20+ year relationship.I’m not asking for everything, just 50% of the assets from the 16 and 2.5 years of marriage. I’ve created a compromise so everyone wins enough to live on, everyone is treated fairly. 

But it is definitely not just me. With marriage equality illegal in Pennsylvania,every LGBTQ family would need strong protections. Domestic partnerships are the only tool in our state – common law marriage was outlawed in 2006. 

Yes, existing marriages might be grandparented in under the Federal Marriage Freedom Act. I don’t believe that for a single second. Remember a few weeks ago when trans members of the military were told they could retire rather than be kicked out, keeping their pensions? Those pensions were revoked. Dismantling existing marriages will be addressed. 

Marriage equality is a crowd jewel for the right wing – they want to destroy all of our families. They came hard for trans community and now they will come for the rest of us LGBQ+ folx. 

I hope I’m wrong on all  of this. 

But I’m not. And I need you to help me fight to protect domestic partnerships in court for every LGBTQ+ person in Pennsylvania. 

Remember, I am also in Federal Court (one level below SCOTUS) fighting for Allegheny County  to acknowledge due process in the involuntary civil commitment process. Sara Innamorato’s government won’t even give me a chance to have my day in court. The same government that revoked domestic partnerships  in 2014 and never restored them. 

It is all connected. These federal  and state systems are poisoned by vitriol and extremism. The County could go either way. Every municipal government in Pennsylvania (thousands) could extend domestic partnerships to their residents and no one can stop them. 

There is a safety net in local government, but do we really see that unfolding if the PA courts diminish domestic partnerships? 

A victory in state court for domestic partnerships will help a lot of our neighbors. A loss could be a death knell, rendering them useless. 

I hope I’m wrong. 

From The Advocate and ABC:

Kim Davis represented by the anti-LGBTQ+ Liberty Counsel filed a petition to the Supreme Court, appealing her conviction for refusing to process a marriage license for a same sex couple in 2015.  

The court is expected to formally consider Davis’ petition this fall during a private conference when the justices discuss which cases to add to their docket. If the case is accepted, it would likely be scheduled for oral argument next spring and decided by the end of June 2026. The court could also decline the case, allowing a lower court ruling to stand and avoid entirely the request to revisit Obergefell.

There are an estimated 823,000 married same-sex couples in the U.S., including 591,000 that wed after the Supreme Court decision in June 2015, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School. Nearly one in five of those married couples is parenting a child under 18.

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