The Potential Impact Of E-Marriage

After reading yesterday’s blog post, my partner, who is an attorney as well as being a bona fide hunk o’ foxiness told me about a project happening at the University Of Michigan Law Department.  Two University of Michigan Law professors, Adam Candeub and Mae Kuykendall have created the E-Marriage Project, which, in their words, “Is a clearinghouse for legislative proposals to institute “e-marriage,” potentially altering the landscape of the marriage culture wars and solving the problems that arise when a great distance separates couples who wish to marry.”

In yesterday’s post, I covered the story of a same-sex couple, Mark Reed and Dante Walkup, who live in Texas where same-sex marriage is not recognized nor performed.  Be that as it may, the men created a way around their problem by getting an “e-marriage” as a solution to their problem.  They learned about the possible solution from Adam Candeub and Mae Kuykendall and their E-Marriage Project site.

While we’re thrilled for Mark Reed and Dante Walkup, we’re really excited for the future implications this could have on members of the LGBT community.

The e-marriage that the Reed/Walkups had was not the first of its kind.  According to a document entitled, “Online Gay Marriage License Seen As Game-Changer,” which was published by The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, and initially aired on NPR, Adam Candeub and Mae Kuykendall’s research is helping other “traditional marriage-challenged” couples as well.  That document states, “Two Michigan State University professors think there’s a better way. They say states that offer same-sex marriage should allow couples anywhere in the country to obtain a marriage license online.”

Adam Candeub says, “There is no geographic monopoly that states have over marriage.  What we’re arguing for is that states should formalize in their laws what they’ve always been doing in smaller degrees in specific areas, which is, allow people outside their states to use their laws.”

With an “e-marriage,” Candeub goes on to say, he believes couples anywhere could go online and download their license from a state where same-sex marriage is legal. Then, they could still have their hometown ceremony with family and friends, the kiss and the cake.  Candeub says the proposal also has value for heterosexual couples, especially those deployed in the military. He argues that e-marriage could better facilitate long-distance weddings.

In Adam Candeub and Mae Kuykendall’s document, “E-Marriage: Breaking the Marriage Monopoly,” formally entitled, “MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 07-25,”  Candeub and Kuykendall propose specific ways that “traditional marriage-challenged” couples can get around the prohibitive laws of their state—or better yet—how these couples can use the existing laws to their advantage.