Cat marriage, how long must we wait?

The zeitgeist moves on and Vermont is now the third US state after Massachusetts and Connecticut to approve same-sex marriage.

Makes you wonder what’s gonna come next really.

I mean will we be reading articles like the following in another 20 years down the line?

Today, the Cats Make Good Life Partners Association filed a suit in federal court in Boston, MA to challenge the denial of critical federal benefits to cat-human couples.

And about time too.

Because for far long we have been lacking basic rights – the right to tie nuptials with a cat.

But progress has been made. We have recently had an unprecedented majority of House and Senate co-signers for a trans-species equality bill and look to celebrate its passage later this year. And we have secured dollars in a difficult state budget for a toxomoplosis awareness week.

We have pushed the envelope, no question. And we will continue to.

And we should also raise the profile of plaintiff couples like State Trooper, Mary Ritchie who puts her life on the line every day for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Because her cat husband is not eligible for the full line-of-duty benefits for surviving spouses should she die in the line of duty (he will be send to a “cat home”).

Or Herbert Burtis, 78 years old who lost his cat partner of 6 years last fall. He is denied the additional money his cat’s social security fund would pay him if their cat-human tie up was legally recognized by the state.

Just imagine: after 6 years together, sharing lives, a home, whiskers and a fur ball or two... nothing! But the human-human couple in MA or CT? No questions asked!

So we must keep moving, the best we can, and with the resources we have, to tell the stories that will ultimately make the difference for all.

Your future wife, your pet cat?