J une 1989

  

Letters from page 3

during the war, and the Congressional

‘ Record holds the following information.

Without the women, most of the men would
have worn their clothing till itrotted on their

‘ backs. Without the women, they would

have eaten unwisely and would have been
sick. Without the women, many of the
wounded simply would have been left to
die. However, women pulled through it by
sheer tenacity, often with rifles in their

, hands, and surprisingly, many of them were

excellent shots.

Naturally, thousands of women came
outof the war much tougher than when they
went in. Tough enough to break into the

“male only” legislature in every state to

demand that the new Emancipation Procla-

' mation be obeyed. They required that the

church laws of serfdom for wives be thrown
out, and civil laws be passed to create a
societal system. This system must ensure
that no wife would ever be dragged into a
waragain, and that no wife would ever have
tosupport a husband again. It took till 1874,
but they won it

Contractual law had been perfected for
more than a thousand years in order to make
it workable for two parties, but the new
system violated all national laws on agree-

ments. It was never intended to be work-
able, but it was the best that the women
could get when they weren’t allowed to
sign legal documents. It was an experiment
- and still is.

When the gay community presses for
“legal” marriage, what they are pressing
for is far from legal. It is required to meet
every state’s laws on male “so1e support”,
till death do you part - which is illegal - but
being a gold mine for lawyers is quite
enough to keep it as “legal” marriage.
Feminist lawyers have tried for years to
crack that nut, but the membership is still
shouting them down. Gays who want
marriage should go to the laws on contracts
and do it legally. Then they can chuckle at
all the straight sad-sacks who go blunder-
ing on, wondering why their dreams
crumble, and who snarl at gays for compli-
cating the burlesque that passes for mar-
riage. Let the lawyers feast on the straights,
on the straight husbands who aren’t sole
supports, on the straight wives who can
legally refuse to work, or who can work
and legally withhold their eamings from
the family. That’s the legal burlesque that
feeds lawyers.

Good luck,
Edgar de Santos

ya ya: 

Shiatsu and Sivadislr
Massage I‘/u,-rapi.<..‘

397 St. Paul Street
Burlington, VT 05401

Call For Appoirltment

 

 
 

Forconfidenflal

AIDS
Information

 

Ca"
1-8O0-882-A|DS

. 323 Pearl Street, Burlington, VT 05401

 

Walter I. Zeichner

MA.C.P., N.C.C.
 Psychotherapy C3» Bodywork
”" Educational Consulting

(802) 852-8507 353-5510
Insurance No Charge for
Accepted

David M. Ross, ACSW
Certified Clinical Social Worker
Individual, Couples & Group Therapy
Deeply Respectful

Appletree Bay Medical Center
1205 North Ave.
Burlington, Vt. 05401

&
105 Hill St., Barre, Vt. 05641

Phone Consultation

(302) 658-8070

(802) 479-2115