A Paradise Valley couple is getting $5,000 from the American Civil Liberties Union to get married in another state.
The ACLU says the idea behind the "My Big Gay (Il)legal Wedding" contest was "to raise awareness regarding inequality in states where same-sex marriage is not yet legal."
See also:
-Gay Couples File Lawsuit Challenging Arizona's Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
Rafael Vasquez and Humberto Niebla were one of five couples to win the prize, and they plan on having a Roaring Twenties-themed wedding near the ocean in California.
According to their profile, one of them (it doesn't say who) was born in Arizona, while the other was born in Mexico and brought to the United States when he was just 3, and is working thanks to the Obama Administration's deferred-action program.
While it's a good stunt against gay-marriage bans, getting married in another state doesn't solve all of gay couples' problems.
As a recent lawsuit against Arizona's ban pointed out, same-sex couples don't have the same protection as married couples for financial reasons like tax exemptions, nor do they have the same legal recognition for purposes of adoptions, nor do they receive benefits as a family member of an armed-forces veteran, nor do they have care-taking decisions in the case of disaster, nor do they have the same rights to inherit their partner's estate, nor the privilege to not testify against their spouse, among several other legal protections that are afforded to different-sex couples.
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