R.I.P. Pater Fal

From Daily Record:

ACTOR Peter Falk who played dishevelled detective Columbo has died aged 83.

The twice Oscar-nominated actor, who had been suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia, passed away on Thursday night at his Beverly Hills home.

Falk was born on September 16, 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, New York, where his parents ran a clothing store.

At three, he had one eye removed because of cancer.

He said in a 1963 interview: "You learn to live with it.

"It became the joke of the neighbourhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him."

When Falk was starting as an actor in New York, an agent told him: "Of course, you won't be able to work in movies or TV because of your eye."

 

Mixed Feeling about New Yourk Victory

I seems that the New York Assembly has passed the bill to enable marriage equality. I am sort of glad to hear that, but with reservations.

My first is that in most reports it's described as a same-sex bill rather than marriage equality. I know I've posted about this before but there is a difference. The Wikipedia page (which annoying uses the title to describe only the New York act) has a link to the text of the bill. I realise that the laws are probably different in the USA and also from state to state, but I worry that the way it's phrased is rather limiting. The intent as listed as...

...that the marriages of same-sex and different-sex couples be treated equally in all respects under the law.

Which is fair enough I suppose however, there is no reference to trans and intersexed people and where they stand in regard to marriage. The reason that bothers me so much is two fold. The first is that the vast majority of news items about this refer to it as enabling same-sex marriage only. and/or that marriage equality is only about that. Haven't seen one reference at all to marriage issues for trans and intersexed people. Typically cisgendered folk don't see the problem. Once again the issue is one of gender. If you look at the wikipedia page on this (oddly Marriage Equality is redirected to Same-Sex Marriage) Transgender and Intersexed is a whole section, and it does at least list two of the three main issues (use of male/female as basis for marriage; forced divorces before gender recognition) but not the third - inconsistent recognition of reassigned gender or of Intersexed conditions being used in a court to dispute the validity of a marriage.

Or, to put it another way:

• In places where man/woman or male/female is used, things get complicated by a) Intersexed folk who may not fit neatly in any of these categories, or b) trans people who may or may not have undergone procedures, but who either have difficulty in getting recognition or where no such recognition of change is given;
• In some States or Countries an already married person seeking gender recognition (State recognition of one's reassigned gender) must divorce their spouse before they get that. A variation on that refusing to provide references for surgeries or other medical procedures until the person is divorced;
• Ambiguous or uncertain legal gender status which may or may not be used in court as a pretext for divorce or other civil proceedings. How would you like to go to court where that status of you gender is under question?

The thing that cisgendered folk miss is this - if you know yourself to be a woman and wanted to marry a man, would you be happy to marry that man as a same-sex couple (likewise for for a man wanting to marry a woman)? Now clearly some folk will be, but others won't. Just extending a priviledge to include same-sex marriage isn't enough, because it leaves dodgy areas of uncertainty for trans and intersexed folk.
Ideally the approached used in Vermont is a better way of handling this. In Vermont...

Two people who are each at least 18 years old can marry in Vermont. If you are at least 16, but under 18, you will need the consent of a parent or guardian.

There are a bunch of other restrictions though. You can't marry a close relative, without your guardians consent if under 18, if you're currently married or joined in a civil union to someone other than who you're marrying (and you both should be of sound mind). These restrictions though do make a sort of sense - they're to prevent inbreeding, bigamy, or underage people being taken advantage of.

Anyway, the point is that sex or gender is not mentioned as a condition for marriage. If everywhere had that, it would all be a non issue.