Gay divorcee Arthur Tremblay

‘Til Divorce Do UsPart:
The End of a Civil Union

 

BY PAUL OLSEN

hen Arthur Tremblay and
Harsh Shah were joined in
civil union last year

Tremblay thought it would last forev-
er. It didn’t. In fact, Tremblay, 47,
and Shah, 28, recently made history
by becoming the first gay male
Vermont couple to “divorce” under
Vermont’s landmark civil union law.

Mass. Trial Court Nixes Same-Sex Marraige

 

BY Joe DIGNAN

Massachusetts trial court
judge has found against
seven same-sex couples who

sued the state when they were denied
marriage licenses. Gay marriage
advocates say the ruling, which was
handed down last month, is the first
skirmish of an ongoing legal battle
over same-sex marriages,‘which is
sure to find its way to the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court and may make Massachusetts
the first state in the union to allow
gay marriages.

“This is just the beginning.
We have always known that there
will be no final resolution in this case
until it is heard by the Supreme
Judicial Court. Our objective in this
round was primarily to begin the
process of making our case for equal
treatment of all families in the
Commonwealth," remarked Jennifer
Levi, senior staff attorney at Gay &
Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
(GLAD) and co-counsel in the case.

Reaction from the couples
was immediate. “We are deeply dis-
appointed that the court did not rec-
ognize that we seek simply the same
legal protections for our family that
other committed couples throughout
the Commonwealth enjoy,” said
Hillary Goodridge who has been in a
committed relationship of 14 years

According ti) Tremblay, an
architectural designer, his relation-
ship with Shaw, who works in retail,
began like many others. “We met
through a mutual friend, and when I
met him I knew I liked him.” he said
in an interview.

“I invited him over for din-
ner and within a couple of weeks we
were living together. It really seemed
to work. We began talking about a
civil union six months later. When it

with her partner Julie Goodridge.

One of the central argu-
ments made by the Massachusetts
Attorney General on behalf of its
client, the Department of Public
Health, was that one of the central
purposes of marriage is procreation
and that gay and lesbian couples do
not have children. The court based its
denial of marriage licenses on that
argument, despite acknowledging that
four of the seven couples in the case
have children and that Massachusetts
law allows same-sex couples tojoint-
ly adopt.

“The decision is particular-
ly troubling because Heidi and I, like
many of our gay and lesbian neigh-
bors, have children. We feel strongly
that our sons deserve the same level
of protection that other children in
the state enjoy,” commented Gina
Smith. who together with her partner
Heidi Norton. sought to marry, in
part, to ensure that their sons would
grow up in a world where their par-
ents’ relationship is legally and com-
munally respected.

Other plaintiff couples in
the case are: Michael Horgan and Ed
Balmelli of Boston; Maureen Brodoff
and Ellen Wade ofNewton, who
have a 12-year-old daughter; Gloria
Bailey and Linda Davies of Orleans,
who have been a couple for 30 years;
Richard Linnell and Gary Chalmers
of Noithbridge, who are the parents
of an 8-year-old daughter; and Robert

came around to the first anniversary
of knowing each other, we decided
that a civil union was appropriate.
We had our civil union on March 31,
2001. It was pretty nice, very posh.”
The relationship ended six
months later. Court documents reveal
that on September 28, 2001 Shah
paid $125 to file a request for civil
union dissolution in the Chittenden
County Family Court in Burlington.
Tremblay objected to the split in a

Compton and David Wilson of

' Boston, who each have grown chil-

dren, and David has four grandchil-
dren.

In his 26-page ruling,
Judge Thomas E. Connolly said that
the matter should be decided by the
Massachusetts legislature. But
because the case is surely headed for
the state’s Supreme Court, the courts,
not the legislature, will likely be
required to decide whether same-sex
marriage will be permitted.

“We believe we have a
strong case on appeal. Despite shar-
ing the same love and commitment as
their non-gay neighbors, Hillary and
Julie Goodridge cannot provide the
same security for their family
because they are not allowed to
marry. That’s unfair and the state can

provide no justification for it,”

remarked Jennifer Levi, senior staff
attorney at GLAD and co-counsel in
the case, commenting on the filing of
the couples’ appeal.

The progress of the case is
similar to the situation here in
Vermont, where, in a ruling on a law-
suit over denial of marriage licenses,
the high court ordered the legislature
to create a mechanism to acknowl-
edge gay unions, ultimately resulting
in Vermont’s first-in-the-nation civil
unions legislation in April of 2000.

The Massachusetts trial
court ruling is the ‘starting gun in a
race between this litigation and an

letter to his court case manager.

“I do not want this
divorce,” he wrote. “I have been hor-
ribly hurt. Though he is the plaintiff
it is me who was wronged. He lived
with me rent-free and used me to his
own end. Then he just dumped me. I
still love him and am stuck.”

Family Court Judge Linda
Levitt issued a civil union dissolution
decree on April 8, 2002. (Under
Vermont law, couples need to live
apart for six months before divorces
or civil union dissolutions are grant-
ed). The couit order states, “a civil
union dissolution is granted to the
Plaintiff on the ground that the
Plaintiff and Defendant have lived
separate and apart in excess of six
consecutive months and the resump-
tion of the civil union relationship is
not reasonably probable.”

When contacted by this
reporter, Shah said, “What’s hap-
pened is between me and him. It’s
over, and it’s final, and that’s it.”

Tremblay concedes that
Shah’s decision to dissolve their civil
union came as a shock to him and
was difficult. “I tried everything I
possibly could think of to get back
together,” Tremblay said. “He said
‘it’s over.’ Unfortunately with a mar-
ried relationship it’s not ‘I decide it is
over and let’s just move on.’ It is not
that casual.”

According to the Vermont
Secretary of State’s web site, the dis-
solution of civil unions is handled, by
the Vermont family court and “follow
the same procedures and (are) subject
to the same substantive rights and
obligations that are involved in the
dissolution of marriage, including
any residency requirements.”

Now that the relationship is

 

initiative likely to go before the
Massachusetts voters in the
November 2004 election. The initia-
tive would amend the Massachusetts
state constitution to define marriage
as being only between a man and a
woman and would limit civil unions.
If the initiative reaches the voters
before this case is decided, it would
preempt the power of the courts to
decide whether same-sex couples can
marry.

Although GLAD attorney
Levi expects a verdict on the case
from the Massachusetts Supreme
Court before the voters act on the ini-
tiative, similar initiatives foiled
attempts to legalize gay marriage in
Alaska and Hawaii.

GLAD and other gay rights
groups are challenging the initiative
in the Massachusetts Supreme Court
and in the Massachusetts legislature
where it must receive at least 25%
support in two successive legislative
sessions.

GLAD attorney Levi said
that because both Massachusetts and
California now allow second parent
adoption, “Theres a contradiction in
laws which allow couples to have a
relationship with their children and
not with each other."

Levi also said that the case
represents an evolution of marriage.
“A woman used to be considered
property," Levi said. “Interracial mar-
riage was prohibited. That was struck

legally over, Tremblay describes the
civil union dissdlution process as
“very simple.” “We did it between
the two of us,” he said. “There were
no joint assets whatsoever, no chil-
dren, and we had been living apart
for six months.”

In spite of the legal case of
the dissolution, Tremblay says he
learned much from the process. “It
really drove home to me exactly how
serious civil union is and how much
it is exactly like a regular marriage,”
he said. “The children, assets, retire-
ment plans, and alimony were exactly
the same, and just as difficult. as in a
marriage. This has the weight of law
behind it."

Under Vermont’s civil
union law, gay and lesbian couples
are entitled to more than 300 state-
regulated benefits including hospital
visitation, inheritance rights, family
leave benefits, adoption, public assis-
tance, state tax benefits. and marital
communication privileges. Since the
law took effect in July 2000, 3,47 l
civil union licenses have been issued.
To date, three lesbian couples and
one gay couple. Tremblay and Shah.
have dissolved their civil unions.

" According to a story in the
April 6 edition of the New York Post.
the story of Tremblay’s historic
divorce is being developed as a play
by playwright Larry Myers. In an
article titled “Cheating hubby,” the
Post reports that the tentative title for
the production is “Same Sex
Divorce.” Myers plans to open the
play at the Outlanta Theater in
Atlanta, Georgia. V

Paul Olsen writes for newsweekly.

Q earea

down. Marriage has evolved appro-
priately and will continue to evolve.“

Gay marriage advocates are
not satisfied with civil unions. Mike
Marshall, Executive Director of
Californians for Civil Marriage, calls
civil unions “separate but unequal.”
Married couples are granted over
I000 specific rights and responsibili-
ties under Federal law alone and
another 800 under California law.
These include rights of inheritance,
immigration. social security, pen-
sions, community property, tax status
and even the ability to buy joint
insurance policies.

By contrast, Vermont’s civil
unions legislation does not provide
any federal rights. California’s new
domestic partner legislation provides
only 15 specific rights to LGBT cou-
ples.

Levi said that one of the
main differences between civil
unions and marriage is portability. “A
marriage made in Rhode Island," she
said, “is just as valid in Oklahoma.
That’s not true for 21 Vermont civil
union.”

But, Levi said, “Marriage
isn’t just this bundle of rights and
protections. lt’s a status that’s univer-
sally recognized. People don’t sing
songs about civil unions. Marriage is
a common language." Y