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Organization:Internet Archive

The Internet Archive discovers and captures web pages through many different web crawls.At any given time several distinct crawls are running, some for months, and some every day or longer.View the web archive through theWayback Machine.

Collection:Wikipedia Outlinks May 2011

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The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20110530221857/http://64.38.12.138/News/2005/009657.asp

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A Cherokee Nation couple claimed victory on Wednesday when the tribe'shighest court dismissed a lawsuit challenging their same-sex marriage.

Kathy Reynolds, 28, and Dawn McKinley, 33, sparked an outcry last yearafter they obtained a marriage license from the tribe.Upon learning of the development, the Cherokee Nation Council passeda resolution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

The resolution applied to future marriages but the legal status ofthe couple's license remained in doubt because the tribal council'sattorney file a lawsuit to block it. Todd Hembree said the CherokeeNation has never allowed same-sex marriages.

After hearing arguments on Tuesday, however, the Judicial Appeals Tribunal of the Cherokee Nation dismissed the case.In a one-page order, three judges held that Hembree, as a private citizen, lacked the legalstanding to challenge the license.

The decision brought praise from Reynolds and McKinley, whose marriagewas not borne out of activism or politics. The couple decided toformalize their relationship when Dawn was barred from Kathy's hospital room because she was not considered a family member.

"We are so happy that the court dismissed the case," the couple saidin a statement released by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, whoseattorneys took on the case after no one else would. "Our relationship is precious to us and we're grateful for all the support weve received from throughout the world."

"Permitting same-sex couples to marry does not individually harm or affect other people," added Lena Ayoub, who argued the case before the tribunal. "The court's ruling protects peoples right to conduct their lives in privacy and peace, without being hauled into court by third parties who have no relationship to them and no direct interest in the matter being litigated."

Hembree, in a story for the Associated Press, agreed that the ruling ends thedispute. "That is a decision by the highest court in our land," he wasquoted as saying.

Yet the dismissal of the case won't help the couple win rights beyondthe Cherokee Nation's 14-county jurisdictional area in northeasternOklahoma.Under the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which was signed intolaw by former President Bill Clinton, any government -- whether stateor tribal -- can refuse to recognize a same-sex union thatis considered legal in another jurisdiction.

As of 2004, more than 10 states have banned same-sex marriages.Only one state, Massachusetts, has allowed it although it is still beingfought in the political arena. Vermont allowscivil unions between members of the same sex.

In Indian Country, the issue is considered fresh legal ground.At a Federal Bar Association conference last fall, attorneysand Native advocates said tribes could exercise their sovereigntyto allow or bar same-sex unions or marriages.

"It's clear that, under federal law, tribes have a long history ofbeing able to regulate domestic relations as a matter of theirinherent tribal sovereignty," said Wenona Singel, a professor at the University of NorthDakota School of Law who became interested in the legal backgroundwhen her tribe asked her to draft a marriage statute.

The debate stirred controversy on the Navajo Nation, the largesttribe in the United States.As the Cherokee case was making headlines,a Navajo Nation Council delegate introduced a resolution todefine marriage as between a man a woman.

The measure was approved this yeardespite opposition from some delegateswho called it discriminatory. Navajo Nation President Joe ShirleyJr. subsequently vetoed the Dine Marriage Act of 2005, said it was an attempt to deny Navajopeople their inherent rights.

"The right to be, whatever that is, is a real basic right," Shirley saidon Democracy Now!, a liberal-leaning radio show, in May.

The council, however, overrode Shirley's veto. Delegate Larry Anderson, the sponsor of the act, said was wanted to strengthentraditional Navajo values. That view is disputed by some Navajos whosay that gay and lesbian people have always been a part of tribal culture.The Navajo language has a term,nadleeh, to describe gay andlesbian people. Other tribal culture have similar concepts and words,according to Native gay and lesbian advocates.

Judicial Appeals Tribunal Decision:
In the matter of Reynolds and McKinley (August 3, 2005)

Relevant Links:
Cherokee Nation -http://www.cherokee.org
National Center for Lesbian Rights -http://www.nclrights.org
Native Out -http://www/nativeout.com
Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits -http://www.baaits.org
Dine Coalition for Cultural Preservation -http://www.dinecoalition.com