from Andrew Sullivan

He has moved his blog over to time.com. I first encountered his writing a decade ago for the New Republic, and have been a daily reader of his blog for five years or more, back when he was basically the first to do that kind of thing. It is still the best going - though back in the day Easterblogg reined supreme. Here is the post that caught my eye today:


In Oklahoma, a gay cowboy couple brought up three kids on a ranch. They did fine - "I was raised to be independent. I didn't really care what other people thought," - until one of them died. Now, because there is no legal protection for their relationship, the surviving husband has lost everything.

Money quote:
Meadows' will, which left everything to Beaumont, was fought in court by a cousin of the deceased and was declared invalid by the Oklahoma Court of Appeals in 2003 because it was short one witness signature.
A judge ruled the rancher had to put the property, which was appraised at $100,000, on the market. The animals were sold. Beaumont had to move.
Because Meadows had no biological children or surviving parents, his estate was divided up among his heirs. When the ranch sells, the proceeds are to be divided among dozens of Meadows' cousins.


And people ask why gay couples want the right to civil marriage. Because they are always one ornery relative away from having their relationships shredded under the law. For some of the most insightful criticism of the movie, check out Misty Irons' response linked on her website here.




Not allowing civil unions in this country is the single biggest civil rights violation this country continues to endorse. The universe bends towards justice, though. I think it is Jim Wallis who wrote that. This kind of injustice cannot be tolerated for much longer.