Why Marriage Matters to Native Americans

In a letter to the Navajo tribal council after a disappointing law passed continuing marriage discrimination, Navajo LGBT rights activist Tomasina Grey said, "...give us the freedom to follow our hearts, the freedom to choose our mates, help us to restore our connection to the land, to our people and our spirituality by acknowledging our choice to love freely."

Just as the United States debates whether or not to end the exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage, Native American tribes are also struggling to address the issue. Even though people of alternative sexuality in Native American culture, called Two-Spirited people, have been historically greatly respected in Native American culture, Western cultural influence injected homophobia into Native American tribes across the nation. Two-Spirit people face the same marriage discrimination as most of same-sex couples in the United States and suffer as a result. Some tribes are making advances, but there is still much progress to make.

Use the key resources below to learn more about why marriage matters to Native Americans.

FROM EVAN WOLFSON:

Loving equality
The Huffington Post
June 12, 2007
Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson and civil rights attorney Bernard S. Cohen, who argued the Loving's case, write together about Loving v. Virginia as a milestone in racial equality, an important vindication of marriage as a cherished civil right, and a testament to the importance of fighting for equality, rather than sitting by silently, indifferently, or complacently in the face of cruel exclusion.

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WHERE YOU CAN GO TO GET INVOLVED OR LEARN MORE:

Celebrating the Freedom to Marry on the 40th Anniversary of Loving v. Virginia
Our page commemorates the Loving celebration in June 2007 which was co-sponsored by civil rights organizations from across the country to honor the freedom to marry as a civil right, featuring a rare public statement by Mrs. Mildred Loving (a plaintiff in the historic Loving v. VirginiaSupreme court case which ended racial discrimination in marriage) supporting the freedom to marry for all Americans.

NativeOUT
NativeOUT is a grassroots Native American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Two-Spirit (LGBTTS) group in Phoenix, Arizona. NativeOUT is just one of the 20+ organized Native American LGBT and Two-Spirit groups across the US and Canada.

Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation: LGBT Native American Community
Two-Spirit is a cultural and social Native term—not a religious one—that encompasses alternative sexuality, alternative gender and an integration of Native Spirituality.

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PUBLICATIONS:

Race and Ethnicity of Same-sex Couples in California
February 16, 2006
UCLA's Williams Project releases new report on diversity among California's gay and lesbian couples.

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NEWS:

Native American church removes ban on gay and lesbian marriages
eMediaWire
April 20, 2007
"First Nation Church, its members and ministers believe that marriage is a covenant between two adults and their God, based upon their love for one another. We believe that love for each other, for nature and for all things created by God materializes from the heart, not from legislative bodies. This basic tenet was so important that the founding fathers established it as the cornerstone of the United States Constitution, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights: that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'"

Navajo lesbian speaks out about same-sex marriage
NativeOUT News
April 24, 2006
For the past couple of days I have been bombarded with images & talk about weddings, commitments, marriages and celebrations with dozens of family members present. All the while I am thinking to myself, "Will I ever get to have such a ceremony, an opportunity to voice aloud my declaration of love before my family and friends?" Probably not! Why? It is because I am a lesbian and in our current Navajo society our rights and declarations have been grossly overlooked, unacknowledged, and recently made unconstitutional.

Cherokee Court Clears Way for Lesbian Marriage
AP Wire Service
August 3, 2005
In 2005, a Cherokee tribal court dismissed a lawsuit impeding one lesbian couple's pursuit of their marriage's being granted tribal recognition. Though Cherokee same-sex couples are still unable to obtain full marriage rights, this case was an important step in the direction towards marriage equality.

Battle over the freedom to marry plays out in the Cherokee Tribe
Washington Post
August 1, 2005
A historical hearing in Oklahoma's Cherokee courts will take place on Tuesday to legalize marriage between same-sex couples after Kathy Reynolds and Dawn McKinley of Oklahoma moved to become the first same-sex couple to marry under Cherokee law. Cherokee law did not exclude same-sex couples from marrying, but the couple was stopped short upon the actual filing of their marriage application, after they requested and received, without incident, a marriage application from the tribe last year, and held a wedding ceremony performed by a licensed minister certified by the Cherokee Nation.

Navajo president's veto praised by gay advocates
Indian Country Today
May 5, 2005
Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. struck down a proposed ban against gays from marriage which "violates a central Navajo belief in goodwill." Navajo Sherrick Roanhorse applauds the president's veto citing the traditional Navajo way honors all people.

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MULTIMEDIA:

Marriage in Native America
Democracy Now!
May 31, 2005
Check out this video discussion about marriage equality featuring plaintiff Dawn McKinley, Joe Shirley (president of the Navajo nation), and David Cornsilk (a member of the Cherokee nation).
Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3
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