Reader voices: Relationships with no rights

If we’ve learned anything from how capitalists conduct their economic blood sport, it is that they give nothing useful away for free.  You can gauge how important something is by how hard they fight it.

In the case of having a federally mandated minimum wage, Big Business opposed organized efforts by working folks to have a green standard they could rely on.  Even today, many Republicans are vocal in opposing this basic right.

That’s one reason why the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), expected to come down in June, is important for all Americans, whether straight or nonstraight.

The forces opposing the overturning of DOMA, by and large, are the same ones we face in other areas, such as fair wages, work conditions, and various inequalities.

Generations of GLBT activists, many of them seasoned by the civil rights movement, have pushed this ball forward, only to have some corporate-backed Lucy snatch it away.

Overthrowing DOMA is a way of saying to GLBT couples, you’ve already accepted your responsibilities; finally, here are your rights.

I know about having the responsibilities one should expect in a relationship, yet with none of the rights.

During the long mental/physical illness and eventual death of my partner, Nita, I had (and am lucky to still have) a full-time job with benefits, which should have helped me in coping with her daily care and health crises. Instead, unlike my straight coworkers, I couldn’t carry my partner on my insurance.

Our finances crashed, as a result.  But, more importantly, I am convinced that had she received decent care early on, she might be alive today.

As polls notch steadily upward in favor of tolerance, some corporatists have begun to see the value of an openly integrated, equally treated workforce. Others, however, of a more conservative bent, continue to fight nature and historical necessity.

For them, this is a ballgame without an end. For the rest of us, we may finally see the clock ticking down to victory.

Photo: Flickr (CC)