Same-sex marriage battles loom across the country
By
David Hoskins
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.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
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