This morning, the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage based on a lawsuit filed in part by Stuart Gaffney, a queer mixed-race Asian man, declaring that prior laws discriminated against same-sex couples on the basis of sexual orientation.
As part of the 4,000+ same-sex couples who got married back in February-March 2004 in San Francisco City Hall, and as one-half of the only Asian-Asian male couple who was willing to be public about our marriage, I’m ecstatic, but also cautious, since a proposition is being considered that could possibly overturn this historic ruling. Considering that a huge number of queer Asians are trying to gain either permanent residency or US citizenship, many couples where one or both partners are Asian are currently unable to take advantage of this ruling, since they potentially could be seen as law-breakers or raise red flags when it comes time for interviewing to become American citizens or residents.
Despite this, Asians have figured prominently in the fight for American same-sex marriage for at least 15+ years. In Hawai’i, a lawsuit that was filed in the early-mid 90s arguing for same-sex marriage all featured couples where one or both partners were Filipino or Filipina. A number of other queer Asian American activists have also featured prominently in California and Washington in filing cases in state courts for same-sex marriage, such as Lancy Woo and Stuart Gaffney.
I’m hoping that the ruling in California will stand up to the proposition currently being considered, and that those of us who want to get married can finally do so.
And Joz herself pulled up the famous post from her blog of me giving her a play-by-play of what was happening when I got married that fateful Valentine’s Day 2004.
