Kindgo
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Lawsuit Challenges State Law
Posted: 2:17 p.m. EST August 22, 2002
Updated: 6:26 p.m. EST August 22, 2002
INDIANAPOLIS-- The Englers have been together for more than five years.
The own a home, share finances and are raising a son together.
They live as a married couple in all aspects of their lives except one -- Charlotte and Dawn Engler are both women and cannot be legally married in Indiana.
The Englers and two other gay couples filed a lawsuit Thursday in Marion Superior Court pressing Indiana to allow gay marriages, or at least recognize civil unions entered into in other states.
"They want the opportunity to build a life with someone they love, just like everyone else," said John Krull, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the Indiana couples. "That's what this suit is about -- giving gay Hoosiers the same opportunity that other citizens of this state have."
Currently, only Vermont allows gay couples to enter into civil unions and that agreement is not recognized in any other states. Suits similar to the one filed in Indiana have also been filed in New Jersey and Massachusetts.
The lawsuit filed Thursday names as defendants Gov. Frank O'Bannon and the clerks of Marion and Hendricks county circuit courts. Court clerks issue marriage licenses.
"As governor, it is my duty to follow the law as it is written," O'Bannon said. "As a defendant in the court suit, I will defend the state law."
The Englers, who live in Hendricks County just west of Indianapolis, entered into a civil union in Vermont in July 2000, but realize that in Indiana it's nothing more than a sheet of paper.
"We're taxpayers just like everyone else," said Dawn Engler. "We go to work, we come home from work, we spend time together. We're like every other family."
Unlike opposite-sex couples that have children together, the Englers had to have a lawyer draw up legal documents stating that both women have legal guardianship of their son.
"I just can't imagine (our son) growing up feeling like a second-class citizen," said Charlotte Engler. "Why is it not natural? For our situation it was totally unnatural to be with someone of the opposite sex."
State Rep. Woody Burton, who authored Indiana's 1997 law prohibiting the recognition of same-sex marriages from other states, said he did not believe the definition of marriage should be expanded.
"I'm just a believer in the sanctity of marriage," said Burton, R-Greenwood. "This country was founded on the principles of certain things. The sanctity of marriage is for one man and one woman."
Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, said if same-sex marriages were allowed, it would create a "slippery slope toward polygamy and moral chaos" in which even multiple partners could seek marriage licenses.
In addition to the Englers, the plaintiffs in the suit are two Indianapolis couples: Ruth Morrison and Teresa Stephens and David Wene and David Squire. They also have entered into civil unions in Vermont.
"Even though we live a life as a couple, if I go to a hospital and they ask me if I'm single or married, my mind says, 'We're married, we work as a unit,' but legally I have to say I'm single," Wene said. "So there's a lot of games we feel like we have to play."
http://www.theindychannel.com/ind/n...822-140837.html
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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