OK: Cherokee Nation Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Same-sex Marriage

[rainbow4321]

http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=87857

A tribal court has dismissed a lawsuit that held up a lesbian couple's effort to have their marriage recognized by the Cherokee Nation.

In a ruling filed Wednesday, the tribe's Judicial Appeals Tribunal said that Todd Hembree, the tribe member and attorney whose lawsuit blocked the filing of a marriage certificate issued by the tribe to Dawn McKinley and Kathy Reynolds, had no standing to sue and suffered no harm by the women's attempt to be recognized as a married couple.

The women haven't decided whether they will try to refile the certificate in order to have their union officially certified by the Cherokee Nation. Because of tribal sovereignty, Cherokee Nation marriage certificates are recognized just like Oklahoma marriage licenses.

The Cherokee Nation is not the only American Indian tribe to take up the issue. In June, the Navajo Nation's tribal government voted to override its president's veto of a measure banning same-sex marriage on the nation's largest American Indian reservation.

[proud patriot]

1. long history of acceptance in the Native American Culture

Many people ask what I know about the berdache -- that sacred person in the native world who is said to be "Two Spirited" -- both female and male. The questioners have read my historical novel One Is the Sun, which is a historical novel about 19th-century native Medicine women. They have also noted the thread of native people through my gay novels. Berdaches, it's said, were accepted in the native world, and viewed as having mystical powers. They were colorfully portrayed in the 19th century art of George Catlin and other artists. Some in the gay community today feel a great connectedness with the berdache, and a yearning to be similarly powerful and accepted in American society.

http://www.whosoever.org/v3i3/berdaches.html

[Dhalgren]

2. This is just another reason for me to be proud of my heritage...

:7

[doodadem]

3. I heard an interview with that Navajo Prez

He very matter of factly stated that it was ridiculous to be wasting time on an issue like banning same sex marriage, which he said is statistically a non-issue anyway. That they needed to focus on real, catastrophic problems, such as alcoholism, substandard housing, education, etc.
Of course, you have to smack someone for making sense like that....