> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Same-sex marriages should be allowed, council says
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/same-sex-marriages-should-be-allowed-council-says/
- Published: 2003-02-17T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:36:34.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Movement is sweeping state, city by city, to change laws*

Kris Langabeer’s wedding may have been conducted by an ordained minister, but California and the federal government still won’t recognize her marriage.

That’s because Langabeer, a 14-year Santa Monica resident, wedded her domestic partner Debbie in 1998 at a local Unitarian church, which recognizes same-sex marriages. However, state and federal governments don’t.

“It had all the ingredients of a wedding, except one,” said Langabeer, choking back tears while speaking in front of the Santa Monica City Council last week. “What we lesbian and gay couples don’t have is a civil marriage. It’s sad, it’s very sad because people are suffering.”

After an emotional plea from numerous residents and civil rights activists, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved a resolution last week supporting the legal recognition of same-sex marriages.

Although Vermont and California have extended domestic-partner benefits to same-sex couples, no state recognizes same-sex marriages. Some states, including California, pre-emptively passed laws barring same-sex marriages and those performed in other states from being recognized at home.

Domestic partner status bestows some of the benefits of being married, such as transfer of property, but it lacks the legal authority that marriage grants to a wedded couple.

Married couples share income and property equally, they are allowed to make medical decisions for one another, they can take advantage of special tax and inheritance laws and they legally share responsibility for any children they have together.

Lambda Legal Defense Fund, a national organization seeking equal rights for lesbians and gay men through the court system and public policy work, has found California has 13 laws pertaining to domestic partners and it has more than 4,500 laws for married couples. And without legal recognition, same-sex couples have few ways to resolve differences through the court system, according to the organization.

“Family court provides ground rules to allow a divorcing couple to come to some agreements that’s fair,” said Jennifer Pizer, an attorney with Lambda.

“With same sex couples, they’re outside that system,” she said. “Disputes last longer, and they are placed into the wrong courts, and treated more like business disputes when they are family disputes. A same-sex couple may not be required to pay child support or share assets in a way that is fair.”

A group called “California Freedom to Marry Coalition” is sponsoring resolutions similar to the one endorsed by Santa Monica throughout the state. West Hollywood, Berkley, San Francisco and Oakland have signed on.

The group hopes to create a “critical mass” of local municipalities to persuade state and federally elected officials to craft legislation that would legally recognize same-sex unions, said the group’s executive director L.J. Caruso at the Santa Monica City Council meeting.

Councilman Ken Genser called the unequal treatment of same-sex couples under the law discrimination.

“All of us would say discrimination against any class of people is wrong,” he said, “but it’s even more wrong when it’s conducted by the government.”

> “All of us would say discrimination against any class of people is wrong, but it’s even more wrong when it’s conducted by the government.” — – KEN GENSER Santa Monica City Councilman

Langabeer said the government has taken away more than just her constitutional rights.

“I think governments deny people rights when they see these people as less than human,” she said. “Please, recognize our humanity. Bring us into the fold.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 17, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)