DOMA Decision is ‘Step in the Right Direction’ Temple Terrace Man Says

Stan Kutz would welcome the opportunity to marry his long-time partner, and he’s hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional will encourage Florida to eventually recognize same-sex marriage.

“It’s a landmark decision, of course, and it’s a step in the right direction,” said Kutz, a Temple Terrace resident and division sales development consultant at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to overturn the law, which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by states.

Same-sex marriages are not legal in Florida however.

“Unfortunately, it’s not an immediate win unless the state of Florida changes the rules,” Kutz said. “The advantage for us is the Supreme Court has said ‘We’re not going to exclude people even though the Defense of Marriage Act was set up to exclude people.’”

Married couples enjoy the pleasure of having government, estate planning and other benefits. Until Florida recognizes same-sex marriage, Kutz said he and others in same-sex relationships must continue to make expensive legal decisions in order to ensure their partners have those same benefits.

“If I die, my partner can’t get Social Security benefits” unless I create and pay for life insurance policies to overcome that lack of benefit Kutz said as an example.

One of the reasons he said he began working for Wells Fargo 15 years ago is the company offers benefits to same-sex partners.

He called the DOMA decision an overall win for equality and said we all become richer by embracing our differences.

“My hope is our states do become more enlightened to the fact that people do need to be included,” he said.

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See also:

• Temple Terrace Reacts To DOMA Ruling