Patricia Cornwell interview

It’s not often I read newspaper articles all the way through – I’m often too late to a news story to play catch-up trying to understand what has gone on before, or there’s far too many words to get the gist of what’s going on or you have to get dirty newsprinted hands man-handling the paper into a position where you can read it … however this morning the Mister showed me an article about my favourite author Patricia Cornwell. She’s just recently released her latest Kay Scarpetta novel and has spoken in public about her same-sex marriage. I’ve never really thought too deeply about the politics of same-sex marriage other than to be angry that governments or religious groups get to dictate what’s right and wrong in terms of how other people live their lives in terms of the choices they make. I understand the need for rules and laws to stop people beating and killing and stealing but not who they choose to live with. But then you know me, I probably got distracted by something orange and never gave it another thought. And then I read this interview and learned (unless it’s journalism liberties) how ‘rules’ in the States prevent same-sex couples from just getting on with their own lives. It’s also hard to understand the concept of ‘states’ with us being such a small country. Amazing to think that you can do certain things in one part of a country yet not (and be treated differently) in another part. Hmmmm, pretty eye-opening stuff for a Saturday morning!

“If we were outside of Massachusetts and Staci were in a horrible car wreck, a hospital could forbid me from seeing her. The federal government does not honour same-sex marriage, so couples can’t file joint tax returns and, in terms of death benefits, people have to go to extraordinary lengths with lawyers to try to make sure that their partner isn’t evicted from the home.”

From the Telegraph