Date: Mon, 04 Dec 1995 01:10:08 -0500 (EST) From: Chris Purdom Subject: IWG Detroit News letter The following went out on IWG letterhead (2 congregations, 4 religious organizations and 16 clergy - if you represent a congregation or religious organization or are clergy, let us know if you want to be added): December 2, 1995 The Detroit News 615 W. Lafayette Detroit, MI 48226 Dear Editors: We were mystified by your November 24 editorial, "Meanwhile back at P.C. Corrall," in which you objected to the extension of "domestic benefits" to same-sex couples on the grounds that domestic partnership is merely an attempt to sanction "gay marriage," that the sole purpose of marriage is to have children, and that ridding society of discrimination will require giving "God-like" powers to the state. Domestic partnership is not an attempt to sanction same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage has already been sanctioned by the Supreme Court of Hawaii, and is likely to become law in Hawaii in the next year or two, and therefore in the rest of the United States, following the lead of the Scandanavian nations. When same-sex marriage is legalized, companies may well change their policies back to only cover married couples, but that remains to be seen. We wonder how all your childless married readers feel about your desire to deny them benefits, or your feeling that their marriages aren't real. The federal government extends tax benefits to married couples, with additional benefits for each child. They also extend benefits to unmarried people with children. Clearly the state does not recognize a correlation between marriage and child-rearing. You seem to also be ignoring the fact that many same- sex couples have children, and the highest courts in New York and New Jersey have recently recognized both visitiation and adoption rights for same-sex couples. Doesn't the denial of these benefits and marriage to same-sex couples with children hurt their children? One might also argue that ridding society of murder, rape, child abuse, and theft would require God-like powers, since we have never succeeded in eliminating them, but that has not stopped us from making them illegal. We all agree that acting on those urges is wrong and harms people in irreparable ways, as does acting on our prejudices in denying employment, housing, and health benefits. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators