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Stand with Sam: Missouri, Survivor Benefits, and Discrimination against Same-Sex Couples
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Hall, Lesley A. |
| Copyright Year | 2014 |
| Abstract | Glossip v. Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees ' Retirement System, 411 S.W.3d 796 (Mo. 2013). I. INTRODUCTION "Michael, are you a gay man?" asked Chris Connelly, ESPN's Outside the Lines host. (1) "I am a gay man," Michael Sam responded, "And I'm happy to be one." (2) On February 9, 2014, Michael Sam garnered the University of Missouri ("Mizzou") football team international attention--but this time, it was not because of his skills as Mizzou's All-American defensive lineman and the Associated Press's SEC Defensive Player of the Year. (3) Michael was the first NFL-bound collegiate football player to openly state he was gay before the NFL draft. (4) "I understand how big this is.... [I]t's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be.... I want to be a football player in the NFL." (5) Michael Sam's proclamation of his sexuality has been met with enthusiastic support and harsh criticism. Many supporters, including many Mizzou students, formed a human wall around Mizzou Arena to block members of the Westboro Baptist Church, which had come to protest Michael Sam's homosexuality. (6) However, others were not so enthusiastic. New York Giants cornerback Terrell Thomas said, "I think society is ready for [an openly gay NFL football player] and America's ready for it, but I don't think the NFL is." (7) Even fiercer was Gordon Klingenschmitt, a.k.a. "Dr. Chaps," a former Navy chaplain, who denounced Sam in a recent episode of his "Pray In Jesus' Name" program: "It's a tragedy every time somebody comes out of the closet.... [I]t's not something to be celebrating." (8) The sad irony was that Michael Sam felt compelled to admit his sexual orientation to the world, fearing "how many people knew," and that he would suffer retaliation for it. (9) Michael is not alone; many gay and lesbian individuals fear "coming out" to friends, family, and co-workers because they are afraid of the possibility of retaliation, harassment, isolation, or worse. (10) In Glossip v. Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees' Retirement System, (11) the Supreme Court of Missouri perpetuated these fears. The court refused to identify sexual orientation as a classification worthy of heightened or "intermediate" equal protection scrutiny, (12) signaling to Missourians that homosexuality is still something to discount, fear, and hide. The holding also erroneously deprived Kelly Glossip of Corporal Engelhard's survivor benefits after Engelhard, his partner of many years, was killed in the line of duty. (13) This Note discusses the resolution of this case and analyzes why the court's holding demonstrates a regressive step for gays and lesbians in Missouri and elsewhere. Part II analyzes the facts and holding of Glossip. Part III discusses the Missouri Constitution's Equal Protection Clause, sexual orientation and federal jurisprudence, and Missouri's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. Part IV examines the Supreme Court of Missouri's rationale in Glossip, including Judge Teitelman's dissent. Part V analyzes why the majority erred in determining that the Missouri survivor benefits statute discriminated against non-married couples, when the discriminatory characteristic was clearly sexual orientation. This Note ends by explaining that sexual orientation should receive heightened or "intermediate" scrutiny, under which the Missouri survivor benefits statute would have been held to have violated Glossip's rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Missouri Constitution. II. FACTS AND HOLDING Corporal Dennis Engelhard, a Missouri State Highway Patrol veteran, was killed "in the line of duty" on December 25, 2009. (14) Appellant Kelly D. Glossip was Engelhard's surviving same-sex partner. (15) After Engelhard's death, "Glossip applied to the Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees' Retirement System ("MPERS") for survivor benefits" under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 104. … |
| Starting Page | 16 |
| Ending Page | 16 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 79 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4112&context=mlr&httpsredir=1&referer= |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://law.missouri.edu/lawreview/files/2015/02/19.Hall_.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
