In the news

Uncertain unions

Written by Jennifer Wadsworth
The Tracy Press, Saturday, 18 October 2008

Some same-sex couples rush to marry, while others hang on the edge of their seats as a vital vote about their relationships — also known as Proposition 8 — approaches.

The marriage of Tracy residents Jeff Gamble and Kevin Metzger last weekend was legal, thanks to an early June California Supreme Court ruling. But like many among the 11,000-plus same-sex couples statewide who exchanged vows since the court decision to legalize gay marriage, 45-year-old Gamble and 36-year-old Metzger are left to wonder about the future legality of their union.

Depending on whether Californians vote for or against a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriages, their certificate could prove null and void come Nov. 5.

"On a personal level, of course it’s meaningful," Metzger said. "But this is about civil rights, really, and what rights we have as a married couple."

Though California Attorney General Jerry Brown said he doubts that same-sex marriages performed before Nov. 4 would be annulled, Proposition 8 supporters could challenge the validity of those unions if the measure passes, according to legal experts from a few political action groups both for and against the measure.

So some same-sex couples have decided to marry before Election Day, said activist Nicole Devencenzi, 25, a San Joaquin Delta College student and spokeswoman for Marriage Equality USA San Joaquin Chapter, a group that supports same-sex marriage. A few have decided to wait until after the vote, she added.

It’s hard to spot a trend, though, especially with the absence of an official record on a local level of the number of same-sex marriage licenses issued.

"People are uncertain," she said. "But it’s hard to see how they tend to react as a whole. It’s hard to break that down."

Unlike a few California counties, the San Joaquin County Clerk-Recorder’s office has kept no record of the number of same-sex unions since the early summer court decision that permitted them, officials said.

Some counties in Southern California that do track the number of same-sex unions have noticed a spike in pre-election ceremonies, according to recent news reports.

Local activists, though, sense the number of local gay marriages has started to taper off.

"I think a lot of people are unsure of what to do, and that uncertainty has held them back a little," said Martina Virrey, also a member of Marriage Equality, a group that supports same-sex unions. "I think they’re hesitant to enter into something that’s legally ambiguous. At least that’s my sense of it."

What also remains to be seen, she added, is whether the state would immediately write off same-sex unions solemnized the day after Nov. 4. It’s possible, clerk-recorder employees noted, that there could be a little leeway even if Californians vote in favor of the proposition, because it takes about a month for some election results to become final.

A Secretary of State spokesman said the ballot measure would indeed become official the day after the election, if voters approve it, but officials with the county clerk’s office said they would continue to issue marriage licenses to anyone who asked until the California Department of Health Services — the office in charge of marriage records — tells them to stop.

Wife-and-wife Tracyites Colleen Brown, 45, and Lorraine Lorio, 46, decided to marry last month while it’s still legal.

"We ‘rushed’ into it after 21 years together," joked Brown, who this week propped up a "No on 8" sign on her front lawn. "But really, we wanted to marry while we still could, because we just don’t know. That’s really what it gets down to, is the uncertainty."

More than their own uncertainty, the couple worries about confusion among voters about what the proposition really means, a confusion they say is worsened by misleading TV ads from proposition supporters and a lack of civil public debate before the Nov. 4 decision.

Statewide, support both for and against the measure appears nearly even, though opponents have outraised supporters by a few million dollars, according to campaign finance reports released last week. Supporters of the "protect marriage" measure have raised more than $22 million. Those against it garnered at least $27 million.

Even if voters choose to undermine the legal weight of the framed marriage license in the Metzger-Gamble home, the newlyweds said their union "is more than a piece of paper."

"It’s a commitment," Gamble said this week over coffee cake and sparkling cider left over from his weekend wedding. "It means more than what the state tells me it does."

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In a comment on the Tracy Press website, a supporter eloquently writes:

i've grown to live

to love and laugh

i'm quite the man

to know and have

struggle and fight

is to sacrifice

let's have the right

to have suffice

to marry the one you love

initiates a bond till death

married or not

i'm there till your final breath

a crime it is to love someone

what a twisted world this is

they could never bring us down

for love will always exist

Congratulations Jeff and Kevin!