The Wake

Ninety to ninety-five percent of domestic violence victims are women, while up to ninety-five percent of domestic violence perpetrators are men, according to the Bureau of Justice.

Each year, between 50,000 and 100,000 Lesbians and as many as 500,000 gay men are battered, according to the American Bar Association website.

Although same-sex battering mirrors heterosexual battering both in type and prevalence, its victims receive fewer protections, according to the American Bar Association Journal.

Each year, an estimated 3.3 million children are exposed to family violence against their mothers or female caretakers, According to the American Psychological Association.

The Defense of Marriage Act (introduced on May 7, 1996) does two things: It defines “marriage” and “spouse” for federal law and gives states the right to ignore same-sex marriage-like relationships that another state may recognize.

In Minnesota in 2000, there were 9,147 same-sex-partner households. 4,290 were male, and 4,857 were female. North Dakota had a total of only 703 same-sex households, while California had 92,138, According to 2000 census statistics.

Marriage grants the power to make medical decisions for the spouse, inheritance rights, access to divorce, custody and visitation rights, the ability to take out loans together, tax deductions, credits and exemptions, and hundreds of other legal privileges at the workplace and in all levels of government, according to the Lambda Legal website.

Domestic partnership benefits are determined by employers, and may include medical and life insurance coverage, family leave, and retirement benefits. Additional legal rights and protections are extended to domestic partners registered in certain cities. New York City local law, for example, treats spouses and domestic partners as equals, according to the Lambda Legal website.

Different-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions are automatically recognized by other cities, states, and countries. Should same-sex couples gain the freedom to marry, however, the federal “Defense of Marriage Act” and similar state laws may perpetuate discrimination against their marriages across state lines, requiring further legal challenges, according to the Lambda Legal website.