Current Event: Tori Sisson & Shante Wolf Marry
Tori Sisson and Shante Wolfe had known each other for seven years. Two of those years they have been dating. On February 9th, they had decided to camp outside the Montgomery County Courthouse overnight, hoping they could be the first same sex couple to get married! The two had gotten spiritually married, but it wasn't known as a state recognized union. "We work here, we pay taxes here, and we didn't feel it was right that we had to do that because nobody else does," Wolfe says. She didn't think it was fair to have to only get spiritually married, or married in another state. She wanted to get married their own state. Even though the Supreme Court and U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama cleared the way for gay/lesbian marriage to begin on Monday, The Chief Justice tried to stop the weddings from taking place in a last attempt effort. Thankfully, that didn't stop the couples!
Another issue was the that state code says that marriage is inherently a unique relationship between a man and a woman. The solution was that no matter what, the U.S. Constitution must be upheld, and it outweighs state law. So in the end the two were able to marry. One of their godmothers performed the ceremony, and they finally got to exchange a kiss. They were finally official!
“Let's make a law that gay people can have birthdays, but straight people get more cake--you know, to send the right message to kids.”
~Bill Maher
It almost seems like such a lighthearted quote. But when you really think about it, it really hits the nail on the head. One of the ways this case connect to the Civil Rights Movement, is because these ladies believed in an issue. Just like people did during the Civil Rights Movement. During the Civil Rights Unit, people would do "sit ins," and go and sit in a place and ask to be served. These ladies took it to the next step and "camped in!" They believed they had a right to be married, and they camped outside the Alabama Courthouse and waited for their time! Not all people reacted well to things like this. Such as the Chief Justice who even tried to prevent the wedding from happening! Other people complain about it being not right, or disgusting. So The Nation still struggles with getting used to this, and understanding that EVERYONE deserves rights! Luckily today, almost all of the states allow same sex marriage, so people like Tori and Shante can be happy!
Works Cited:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/09/us/alabama-same-sex-marriages/
Google Images "Tori Sisson and Shante Wolfe"
Youtube "Tori Sisson and Shante Wolfe"
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/gay-rights
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/09/us/alabama-same-sex-marriages/
Google Images "Tori Sisson and Shante Wolfe"
Youtube "Tori Sisson and Shante Wolfe"
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/gay-rights