In article , Jeanne Hedge
wrote:

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 22:19:45 GMT, Victor Martinez
wrote:

Tanada wrote:
With the laws being as short sighted as they are about gay marriages,
sorts married is about the right term. The two have been together
longer than a lot of heterosexual couples, but aren't allowed by law
to

We'll be celebrating our 8th anniversary in April.

make it formal. Seems unfair to me, why shouldn't they be as
miserable
as the rest of us. :-)

It's not just the miserable part though... As it stands now, if Tom
were to be hospitalized and unconscious, I would not have the right to
be by his side. If I were to die, all the assets that I own that I have
willed to Tom would be taxed at 50% (or something ridiculous like that),
whereas if he were my husband there would be no tax. The list of
unfairness goes on and on...

Tax unfairness aside (and that's a pretty huge aside), I think I read
somewhere that you could do something with legal documents (something
like power of attorney) that would allow you to have legal say-so
regarding medical things and other personal affairs. I think it's
criminal that something like that should be necessary, but is that a
possiblity?

In many cases, yes. Virginia has passed an atrocious law that is bound
to be struck down in the courts, but is nightmarish. Essentially, it
says that if there is a contract between two people that might appear to
give the impression that it is an attempt to circumvent the prohibition
against same-sex marriage, it can be challenged in court.

This could mean that if I. a single heterosexual, happened to give a
male friend by medical power of attorney, some busybody could challenge
it.