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Same-sex marriage battles loom across the country

Published Sep 24, 2005 7:17 PM

The demand by the lesbian, gay, bi and trans movement to end state discrimination against same-sex marriages has been vocal, loud and persistent. Proponents of same-sex marriage rights are now facing intense battles in a number of states.

While Vermont became the first state to grant many of the rights of marriage to same-sex couples in 2000, the struggle for lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) equality under marriage law has rapidly advanced since that time.

The historic fight in Massachusetts continues. Equal marriage rights recently came under attack by a small but well-funded right-wing movement determined to set back the clock in Massachusetts where same-sex marriage was legalized after a 2004 order from the state supreme court.

Regressive forces in the state recently pushed for a failed constitutional amendment that would have banned marriage for same-sex couples.

Lawmakers reaffirmed the right of all couples to marry in a joint session of the House and Senate where the proposed constitutional amendment was defeated 157 to 39. Openly gay legislator Sen. Jarret Barrios summarized what many of those voting against the amendment felt when he reminded voters that before same-sex marriage passed, “there were great divisions, and dire predictions about what would happen if gay marriage came to Massachusetts. Sixty-five hundred married couples later, the sun still shines in Massachusetts.”

Sensing that a defeat was on the horizon, right-wing opponents started to push a ballot measure aimed at rescinding same-sex marriage rights. The so-called Massachusetts Family Institute has threatened to wage a fierce attack on lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans families to ensure its passage.

The state attorney general has approved the measure that, unlike the recently defeated amendment, precludes the formation of civil unions as an alternative to same-sex marriage. The proposed ban requires 65,582 signatures by Dec. 7 and the support of 25 percent of the state legislature in order to go before voters in 2008.

The Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, a Massachusetts equal rights group that successfully opposed the most recent amendment, is gearing up for a tough fight this fall.

The ‘terminator’

California took a big step toward becoming the second state to recognize same-sex marriage when the State Assembly passed AB 849 granting full marriage rights to same-sex couples. The passage of AB 849 also makes California the first state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage through the legislature, and not the courts.

The legislature has delayed passage of the bill until Sept. 23, following Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s promise to veto the legislation.

The delay was granted to allow the LGBT communities and their supporters time to lobby the governor to change his mind and allow the bill to pass into law.

Schwarzenegger is using Proposition 22—which passed in 2000 and bans same-sex marriage in the state of California—as a pretext to veto equal marriage rights. The governor and other conservatives insist that the voters made their voice heard when Proposition 22—which is currently being challenged in the state courts as unconstitutional—was passed during the primary election.

A closer look at what happened in that election reveals that Proposition 22 does not reflect the will of the people.

On its face the 2000 primary election gives the appearance that 61 percent of Californians supported the ban on same-sex marriages. However, when the fact that millions of voting-age Californians were unfairly denied eligibility due to their immigration or incarceration status is combined with the difference between the number of eligible voters and the number of voters who bothered to show up for the 2000 electoral farce, the truth emerges that less than 19 percent of the voting-age population supported Proposition 22.

Schwarzenegger and the anti-marriage forces have failed to give a reason why the expansion of equal marriage rights to all Californians should be held hostage by an extreme right wing that accounts for less than one-fifth of the population.

The fight back spreads

The fight to beat back attacks on same-sex families is not confined to states where progressive forces are positioned to wrest a little piece of equality from the hands of state government.

Jewish, Catholic, Methodist and Luth eran religious leaders in Texas have recently joined hands to form the “No Nonsense in November” coalition. The coalition’s aim is to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage which has the support of Texas’s homophobic governor, Rick Perry.

The LGBT communities can expect the struggle for equal rights to intensify in the wake of President George W. Bush’s failed campaign for the amendment. That campaign—an election-year gimmick designed to deflect attention from the war in Iraq and growing poverty in the U.S.—emboldened reactionary forces on the right.

Democratic candidate John F. Kerry didn’t even offer a mild defense of same-sex marriage rights during that presidential election. As the senator from the only state that had won same-sex marriage rights, Kerry campaigned to defeat same-sex marriage on a state-by-state basis.

People of progress in Massachusetts, California, Texas and all over this country must continue to fight back to get rid of injustice in all its forms.

Hoskins is an organizer in Washington, D.C., for FIST— Fight Imperialism, Stand Together.