JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Leah Vader and her partner of Gillette will be watching today to see how the Wyoming Senate votes on a bill to ban recognition of same-sex marriages that take place in other states.
Senate File 13 is scheduled for a third reading and a final vote in the Senate today. If it passes, all it will need is the governor's signature to become law.
Vader and Lynne Huskinson, both 46, have been together for 10 years. They were married in Ontario, Canada, in August.
Together they have raised Leah's four children, ages 17 to 23, from her first traditional marriage.
Although it is questionable whether their marriage is currently recognized in Wyoming, passage of the bill may make it clear they do not enjoy any of a range of spousal rights.
One state law recognizes marriages that are valid in another country. Another state law defines marriage as a contract between a man and a woman.
"It's a legal question that you have to answer 'maybe,'" said Linda Burt, director of the Wyoming chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "It could be argued both ways."
Burt said most people take for granted marital or spousal rights. They include the right to health insurance and other benefits, to participate in estate planning and to make medical decisions for the spouse-partner.
"One thing we hear most often is when families don't allow the partner into the hospital room," Burt said.
She said it is unfortunate that the Senate so far is supporting the bill.
"Not many people are rushing to Wyoming - gay couples who have been married somewhere else," Burt said. "The only purpose of this bill is to make discrimination very clear."
Supporters contend that making same-sex marriages legal in the state diminishes traditional family values and society's support of those values.
John Birbari of Lander, a representative of the Casper-based Wyoming Family Values Coalition, said Tuesday his group of 9,000 families of various religious denominations - Catholic, Protestant and Mormon - support the bill.
"Our position is marriage is not an invention of mankind," Birbari said. "It was ordained by God and was ordained between a man and a woman, and that has been the view held through most of the ages, and that's the way we think it ought to stay."
Senate supporters, including the sponsor of the bill, Sen. Gerald Geis, R-Worland, say their constituents want the ban.
Vader, meanwhile, said she cut back to part-time work because of the "stuff with kids" and lacks health insurance coverage. She said she has been unable to get health insurance through her partner's coal company employer, even with a Canadian marriage license.
The company's human resource director encouraged them to apply for the insurance for Leah. But the message came back from company headquarters in Baltimore that the company did not want to cover "additional levels of dependents at this time," Vader said.
They may pursue the matter later, she said.
She said people in Gillette have been supportive.
"I've met the most beautiful, wonderful friends of my life here," said Vader, who grew up in Minneapolis.
"We have a completely legal marriage," she said. "I'm talking about full faith and credit."
But without enjoying the full range of spousal benefits in Wyoming, Vader said she sees the bill as a simple statement of prejudice.
"I think what they want is for there not to be gay people," she said. "It's hard to legislate that."
Bob Spencer of Wyoming Equality in Cheyenne said he heard of one gay couple who moved here from Massachusetts, "and they don't expect any rights in Wyoming."
"I'm very disappointed that our Senate feels it has to disavow our constitution," he said, referring to Article 1, sections 2 and 3 on equal rights.
Neither does he foresee an influx of gay people into Wyoming if the bill fails.
The bill was introduced two years ago but died in committee.
Wyoming Equality is a loose-knit advocacy group for gay, lesbian and sexual transgender people that had steadfastly opposed this type of legislation.
"We will be following it very closely," he said. "We will be trying to talk to senators. I don't think we'll change any hard-core opinions, but I hope we might be able to change people who might be on the fence."
Capital bureau reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at joan.barron@casperstartribune.net.