Washington St. Indian Tribe Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
- Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:17am by
Billy Hallowell
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Heather Purser
SEATTLE (The Blaze/AP) — Gay marriage isn’t legal in Washington state, but that hasn’t stopped an Indian tribe from recognizing same-sex unions.
Standing up before dozens of Suquamish Tribal members at a general council meeting in March, Heather Purser told them she was a lesbian, and asked her people to recognize same-sex marriages at the tribe’s Washington state reservation.
Even after four years of lobbying tribal members, the 28-year-old didn’t know how much support she had. ”When I turned around to sit back down I was shaking,” Purser recalled Tuesday.
Then the council put the issue to a voice vote of the people. “Everyone said aye. No one said nay,” Purser said. On Monday, the Suquamish Tribal Council ratified the people’s wishes and recognized gay marriage, making it only the second tribe in the country known to do so.
The new law allows the tribal court to issue a marriage license to two unmarried people, regardless of their sex, if they’re at least 18 years old and at least one of them is enrolled in the tribe. Leonard Forsman, chairman of the Suquamish Tribe, wants to be sure people understand the tribe’s stance:
“We are open and tolerant, and we want to make sure our members are offered the opportunity to be happy and free in their lives. This lined up with our values as a tribe. We don’t discriminate.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Forsman continued:
“I‘m just happy that we’re able to get the work done that will allow the same rights and privileges to all people, regardless of sexual orientation. It was a process that took longer than expected. We have a lot [of] competing needs.”
It will be up to other courts to decide if unions granted under the Suquamish ordinance will be recognized elsewhere in Washington, said the tribe’s attorney, Michelle Hansen.
Gay marriage is still illegal in the state, but the Legislature this year approved a measure recognizing same-sex unions from other jurisdictions, which include other nations. State lawmakers also have approved a so-called “everything but marriage” law, granting same-sex couples many rights.
“I wanted to feel accepted by my tribe,” Purser said. “I was expecting a fight to be ugly. But I was so shocked. I guess I was expecting the worst out of people. I was expecting the worst out of my people.”
Purser came out to her family when she was 16 and decided to campaign for gay marriage in her tribe after college. She approached the Tribal Council, which she said was supportive but not encouraging. She said council members told her to talk to elders about the issue and assigned a tribal attorney to work with her.
But Purser became discouraged, thinking the tribe was taking too long. She moved to Seattle, to a gay-friendly neighborhood, where she met her partner.
Purser, who is a seafood diver for the tribe, returned to the reservation in March, this time intent on voicing her campaign to the people at the annual general membership meeting.
She stepped to the microphone and repeated her plea for the tribe to recognize gay couples. Tribal Council members said they would continue considering it. She sat down. But people around her encouraged to stand up again. She then asked for a voice vote.
“I’m proud that she stood up for herself and took a stand. You bet,” said Heather’s father, Rob Purser. “A father’s main concern is that your children are happy, and you do what you can to help them.”
Hansen said other jurisdictions will have to decide whether to uphold same-sex unions performed on the Suquamish’s reservation.
The Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast is the only other tribe that recognizes same-sex marriage, said Matthew L.M. Fletcher, a law professor at the Michigan State University Indigenous Law Center.
The Coquille adopted its law sanctioning gay marriage in 2008. Most tribal law doesn’t address the issue. In 2005, efforts to grant marriage rights at the nation’s largest tribe, the Navajo, were defeated.
Same-sex marriage licenses also are granted by New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, plus Washington, D.C.
The Suquamish Tribe has about 1,000 enrolled members, according to its website. Its reservation is on the shores of the Puget Sound, about an hour from Seattle. The city of Seattle is named after its most famous member, Chief Seattle, who led a confederation of tribes in the first half of the 1800s.
While Heather Purser lobbied for marriage, she said she’s not yet taking that step. But her victory has helped her deal with many personal issues.
“I have a lot of bitterness inside of me,” she said. “Ever since (the vote), a lot of that pain is just gone.”
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Comments (76)
klevalt
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:35pmLOL! What is interesting is the fact that I live not 8 miles from the reservation, and I have not heard a word about this in any news organization in the area!!! God, I pray that this area of the US will come back to Him on our knees! Please pray for this region, people. We need His direction. Amen.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 1:02pmIs this really the Fugowey Tribe
They keep getting lost when leaving the reservation and ask everyone they see,
Report Post »“Where the fugowey?
godlovinmom
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 1:30pmI lived in the Seattle, Portland area, and like the San Fran area, homosexuality is very common amoung it’s residents…As long as they stay there, I don’t care…I find that gays live in the cities, where they are excepted, small town America, not so much.
Report Post »Cesium
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 3:52pmthey‘re american indian’s, if they aren’t of the converted variety, your god is irrelevant..
Report Post »This_Individual
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 6:20pmCESIUM, if that is what you truly believe, not only are you irrelevant, you do not know your God either.
Report Post »v-vet1968
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:17pm13th IMan thats a good one!
Report Post »RationalJames
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:44amI imagine the little aliens from toy story..
Report Post »‘Ooooh the Claaaawwwwww….’
Secret Squirrel
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 6:39pm.
Report Post »“May I introduce ”Little feather“ and ”Smiling beaver.”
Congratulations………….”
olddog
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:24pmThis is no surprise Indians were mating with the buffalo decades ago, where did you think democrats came from???
Report Post »v-vet1968
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:20pmI agree thats where S. Jackson Lee came about!!!!!
Report Post »krispy01
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:22pmI don‘t want to know what the tribe’s totem pole looks like !
Report Post »cloudsofwar
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:43pmtotem pole has ED.
Report Post »Jim in Houston
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:21pmWould anyone expect something different from La La Land North?
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:08pmGay marriage is gay
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:33pmlol
Report Post »cntrlfrk
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:06pm‘
The Suq what? Tribe?
.
Report Post »Rightsofman
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 3:28pmFugowey? We’re the Fugowey.
Report Post »cloudsofwar
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:37amGay indians. WHO KNEW?
Report Post »BetsyRoss1513
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:46amGay BLOND Indians. Who knew?
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:15pmGay blonde indians that smoke much wampum, who knew?
Report Post »southerngal
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 1:33pmthey have just blessed their own extinction
Report Post »nysparkie
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:36amWhat? All the Long Prong Sheep are dead?
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:34amAre those marriages blessed by the spirit of the great white buffalo?
Report Post »cloudsofwar
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:40amthe gay white buff.
Report Post »Christian Kalgaard
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:34amdisgraceful.
Report Post »RationalJames
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:46amNo you
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:11amnot really the best idea if you want your tribe to continue to exist its not like their numbers are growing enough to continue their tribe into the future, this will only hasten their demise into history and memory
i guess there wont be any more little wampum to pass on the culture if this becomes a fad lol
Report Post »nysparkie
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:37amYa, in three or four generations they will be extinct people.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:10amwho cares…they pray to opossums & skunks…what do they know.
Report Post »hellnomo
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:00amFlaming arrow is now clear to make his bid for chief.
Report Post »bigfatslob
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:38amYeah, like that redheaded chick really looks like an American Indian….loophole
Report Post »spirited
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:48am…and, who does Barack Obama look like?
>Things are not always what them seem.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:05amProbably 128th or 264th part Indian, like so many fake Indian people who take advantage of the laws and claim to speak for more full-blood Native Americans. This sounds more like a commune than a tribe, but I suppose they are the same thing.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:28amyeah that Redheads Indians name is milkman running.
Report Post »semihardrock
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:36amThey could probably make it LEGAL to shoot them as well BEING all US Indian Tribes follow NO LAWS and are making them up as they go WHICH is why there are CASINO’s on ALL of the reservations EVEN THOUGH the most States consider gambling illegal.
LABOR UNIONS are ALSO becoming a ritual on INDIAN RESERVATIONS!
Very EASY to hide from the Government Officials on an Indian Reservation where they are DESPISED and UNWANTED! Native Americans are THE ORIGINAL Tea Party Members!
Report Post »Attention2Detail
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:51pmThey are not the original TEA party members. All Indian reservations survive on U.S. tax dollars. Most Indians are on at least one government entitlement program. The casinos only benefit the tribal leaders.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:34am“Indian.” Sigh. They’re Native Americans; Indians are from India.
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:43amThey are the aboriginals from Washington Street!
Report Post »capitalismrocks
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:33amHmmmm… well, they are a sovereign nation, so the native American Indians can do whatever they please within their lands.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:49amSo why does billions of tax dollars a year go to reservations? WTF
Report Post »SOVERIEGN NATIONS TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:31am.
Report Post »Big Chief Idontknowheretostickit has spoken. That is all……………….
TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:30amZAP, my entire office is crying with laughter!
Report Post »congresswatcher1
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:29amYou would think that the Indian Tribes would have more sense than this.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:29am.
Report Post »Tonto just rolled over…..
MidWestMom
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:53amLOL Good one!
Report Post »Pastor Ray
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 4:09pmSure it wasn’t too too?
Report Post »ZAP
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:25amNow we got queer Indians.How about a queer in the White House?
Report Post »psst
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:25amC’mon. this is Wash State. A leftist /lib enclave.
Report Post »It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the Abomination lifestyle should rub off on the Mighty Redmen.women.
Mebbe Hershey should think of building Choco factories on Indian land.
iheartusa
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:15pmThere are many conservatives on the eastern side of the state that are tired of what liberals on the western side are doing to our state. We are one of only 2 states where illegal aliens can get a driver’s license without proof of citizenship! Then they are registered to vote, with the help of many “community organizations”. Who do you think they are voting for?
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:23amWelcome to Washington Street!
Anyone who tribes here can marry. And if you don’t like that, stay away.
OK Thanks!
TEA
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:22amWell goody gum drops for them.. Have gay ole time, kids.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:34amI’m glad my Indian heritage is Osage, Blackfoot and Cherokee and not that tribe. I’d be ashamed.
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