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The Associated Press ANCHORAGE—Jay Brause and Gene Dugan have lived together for nearly two decades, maintaining a home like any mar ried couple. Except they’re not married. A state law passed in 1996 specifically bans same-sex marriages, and state policy before then has blocked it. Now the men are asking the state court to declare the law unconstitutional and to force the state to formally recognize their relationship—something only Hawaii now does. In arguments Friday before Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski, an attorney for Brause and Dugan said the state is punishing the men by refusing to grant them a marriage license. More than 100 state statutes provide rights or protections to married couples, but they’re not avail able to homosexuals who live together in a long-term relationship, said attorney Robert Wagstaff. Those rights include the ability of spouses to sue for wrongful death, to share in a spouse’s assets in case of death and to be included in health insurance policies. Wagstaff argued that the Alaska Consti tution forbids discrimination based on gender, and that the 1996 law banning same-sex marriage plainly violates the constitution. Still, he said he is emphasizing the neg ative impacts of the state’s refusal to rec ognize the marriages, rather than the constitutional implications. John Gaguine, an assistant attorney general, told Michalski the matter is not a constitutional one, but that even if it was, the state still shouldn’t have to recognize Brause and Dugan’s relationship. “There’s no fundamental right at issue here,’’ Gaguine said. “‘The interests here are, at best, economic interests.” He suggested that individual statutes that may discriminate against homosexual couples should be considered individually rather than by forcing the state to recog nize same-sex marriages. “What the plaintiffs are requesting is largely akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water,” he said. Michalski could have ruled on the ques tion Friday but chose not to. When the Legislature passed the law banning same-sex marriage, it also ap prove a proposal banning mandatory health coverage for unmarried partners of public employees. TALKING FISH—Washington Gov. Gary Locke, far left, sits with Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles, center left, Pa cific Salmon Commissioner Ron Allen, center right, and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber before holding a day of private meetings to discuss salmon issues Friday at SeaTac International Airport in Seattle.
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Sat, Nov 15, 1997
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Jakob D.
GB 10 Jun 2026
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