Letter to Houston Chronicle, AP WashPost

Houston Chronicle
Washington Post
AA

To the Editors:

On March 15 (Page A3), the Houston Chronicle ran an article about the recent court victory for gay couples in California. The article was originally written for the Washington Post and someone addended to it a brief summary of national gay marriage legislation and court decisions. The summary was attributed to the Associated Press. That summary omitted Minnesota, the state where the battle for gay marriage began back in 1971.

California Superior (Trial Court) Judge Richard Kramer wrote in the recent decision: "Same sex marriage cannot be prohibited solely because California has always done so before."
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled virtually the opposite back in 1971 (Baker v Nelson) arguing Minnesota can forbid gay marriage because: "The institution of marriage as a union of man and woman, uniquely involving the procreation an rearing of children within a family, is as old as the book of Genesis."

Furthermore, in 1972, the U. S. Supreme Court refused to review the Minnesota decision for lack of a "substantial Federal question."

I hope the Chronicle, the Washington Post and the Associated Press will all make note of this pioneering gay marriage litigation in future reporting, particularly in chronologies with an historical perspective.

If the California Supreme comes to a different decision than Minnesota, I believe the U.S. Supreme Court will be forced to address this issue. Federal potentates from the prez to the members of Congress have made it a substantial Federal question.

(Baker and McConnell's website is www.may-18-1970.tabcat.com/Quest.html)