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Existing gay marriages now on a great divide
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Los Angeles Times
03/07/2009
"...The California Supreme Court's signal Thursday that it would uphold Proposition 8 but still recognize 18,000 existing same-sex marriages raised questions and concerns about the prospect of being a minority within a minority ? part of an exclusive club whose doors have been closed to others.
"...Jon Davidson, legal director for the gay-rights advocacy group Lambda Legal, called the couples 'pioneers' put into 'an unprecedented situation.'
"'It will be challenging for those 18,000 couples,' Davidson said. 'They are likely to be frequently asked to prove that they are married...They will be going forward where no couple has gone before.'
"'At the same time, the gay married couples may help educate Americans about same?sex marriage,' Davidson said.
"'They will be kind of living examples of the fact that no one else is harmed by the existence of married same?sex couples,' he said."