That's Some Catch: Missouri Supreme Court Denies Survivor Benefits Because Missouri Wouldn't Let State Trooper Get Married
Well, golly, here we were getting all optimistic about all those nice-time stories about how same-sex marriages aren't exactly destroying the fabric of society, and then along comes a giant turd like this:
The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled against a man who sought survivor benefits from the state pension system based on his same-sex partnership with a state trooper killed in the line of duty.
“[The] statute does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Instead, it draws a distinction on the basis of marital status,” the court said in its 5-2 decision against Kelly Glossip, who was in a relationship for almost 15 years with Missouri Highway Patrol Cpl. Dennis Engelhard.
Essentially, the court said Glossip is ineligible for benefits not because he's gay, but because he "was not married to Engelhard at the time of his death."
Missouri, of course, does not allow same-sex marriage, to protect the family. Just not all families. Because some families are just pretend families, and must be prevented from being treated as real families, because to do so would be to give them special treatment. But it's not discrimination to deny death benefits because of that.
Hell, Kelly Glossip should just be thankful he's allowed to stay in the home that he and Engelhard bought together.
Engelhard died in 2009 when he was struck by a car while helping a motorist on Interstate 44. On Christmas. Not that that matters, because as Rick Perry said, gays want to cancel Christmas anyway.
A sincere tip of the Wonkette leather kitten chapeau to Justice Richard B. Teitelman, who wrote a dissent saying that the majority's ruling was part of a "shameful history" of official discrimination in Missouri:
“(State law) operates to the unique disadvantage of gay men and lesbians, even when, like Corporal Engelhard, they devote their lives to the defense of the same rule of law that relegates them to the status of second-class citizens," wrote Teitelman.
Congratulations, Missouri. "Traditional families" no doubt breathed a sigh of relief at the knowledge that they have been protected by the denial of survivor's benefits to Mr. Glossip. And we have another state that we won't be visiting anytime soon.
I had a friend in North Carolina in the late 80's who worked with a clinic in Durham and she reported much the same thing except it was the protesters themselves who came to the clinic in need. I guess they figured they knew the address so why go elsewhere?
Missouri is now almost exactly like Pennsylvania: St Louis and Kansas City at either end, and Alabama in between.