French woman marries dead partner
Lizzy Davies, The Guardian (November 17, 2009)
Over the weekend, I posted an article about how the Governor of Rhode Island vetoed a bill that would have granted same-sex partners legal claims for final disposition of a dead body. This is only an issue because same-sex marriage isn’t legal. Once two people are married, they have next of kin rights, which significantly includes legal claims for a dead body.
Then I saw this article about posthumous marriage in France and I had an epiphany. Same-sex marriage needs to be extended and recognized for dead partners. It is the least America can do once same-sex marriage becomes universal across the United States.
This is the best section from the article:
Under French law posthumous marriages are possible as long as evidence exists that the deceased person had the intention while alive of wedding their partner. According to Christophe Caput, the mayor who married Jaskiewicz, her request was “rock solid”.
At the very least, posthumous same-sex marriage acknowledges that even though two people who loved each other in life could not get married, death does not mean the dream will be forever denied.