Subject: Alaska Ruling
From: AlaskaDan <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 1998 13:29:38 EST

An Alaskan Superior Court judge ruled Friday against Alaska's ban on same-sex
marriages, ordering the state to show why it should be able to regulate who
people marry. The ruling does not legalize same-sex unions in Alaska, but
forces the state to prove a compelling reason why such unions should be
illegal. Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski said choosing a partner is a
fundamental right and the state Constitution protects both the ``traditional
choice and the nontraditional choice.''  An Anchorage gay couple of almost 20
years, Jay Brause & Gene Dugan, filed suit against the ban passed by the
legislature in 1996.

A portion of Judge Michalski's ruling included the following:  "The Court
finds that marriange, that is the recognition of ones choice of a life-
partner, is a fundamental right (under Alaska's Constitution).

The State must therefore have a compelling interest that supports its decision
to refuse to recognize the exercise of the fundamental right by those who
choose same-sex partners rather than opposite-sex partners.

Parties are directed to set necessary further hearings to determine whether
compelling State interest can be shown for the ban on same-sex marriage found
in the Alaska Marriage Code."