This Monday will be the first day gay couples can apply for a marriage license in Iowa, just one more in a series of firsts the gay marriage movement has seen in the past month.
The number of states that recognize same-sex marriages doubled from two to four in April and is likely to grow as an increasing number of states look into the constitutionality of denying same-sex couples the rights given to heterosexual couples, gay marriage supporters said.
Iowa became the first Midwestern state to allow same-sex marriages after a unanimous April 3 vote by the state’s Supreme Court. Vermont became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage outside of the courts days later, after the legislature overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto by a vote April 7.
Gay rights supporters said they think that the measures in both states show that the tide is turning in the direction of marriage equality in all states.
Richard Rosendall, the vice president for political affairs for the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., said the Iowa case was unique in that same-sex marriage is not merely a trend constricted to the relatively liberal East and West coasts.
‘[The decision] was unanimous, and it came from the heartland of the country,’ he said. ‘The opinion itself was very muscular.’
Rosendall said the vote of the Vermont legislature could set a precedent for other states. Soon after Vermont legalized gay marriage, the’ D.C. council voted in favor of recognizing gay marriages from outside the district.
Some members of the D.C. council hoped this decision would lead to a full marriage equality bill, but because the district is subject to congressional legislative review, it would be difficult to pass, Rosendall said.
Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association co-chairwoman Jane Rothchild said Vermont’s legislative decision was important because activists in nearby states such as Maine, New Hampshire and New York are trying to pass similar bills. New York Gov. David Paterson presented a bill to legalize same-sex marriage April 16 and compared the movement to the abolition movement.
‘We [may] see a shift from court decisions to legislative activity . . . where there is an opportunity to full and open debate,’ she said.
Betsy Smith, the executive director for Equality Maine, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization, said these decisions were part of a movement that had started years ago when some states began to issue civil unions.
‘What’s happening now is part of what history is playing out,’ she said ‘This country is at a point where the decision-makers in this country are beginning to address discrimination.’
Vermont was the first state to offer civil unions, something to which Smith said people had become accustomed, which allowed the state to progress to same-sex marriages.
‘People have started to have the conversations that gay couples live in their neighborhood,’ she said. ‘People are starting to realize that this is just about the people next door. This is not about men having sex with men in the dark or AIDS.’
Rothchild agreed with Smith, saying that after almost five years of gay marriage in Massachusetts, people were beginning to realize that nothing bad was resulting from it.
‘I think what’s next is a greater acceptance,’ she said. ‘People see couples getting married, and the sky hasn’t fallen.’
Though more states have legalized same-sex marriage, many organizations that do not support it are not stepping down.
The group National Organization for Marriage recently launched a campaign called ‘2 Million for Marriage’ in an effort to stop the legalization of gay marriage across the country.
‘2 Million for Marriage” is an effort to organize ‘two million marriage activists from every state in the nation to form an online army of marriage activists willing to stand up for marriage on a moment’s notice, sending emails and making phone calls to legislators whenever marriage is threatened,’ according to an April 8 press release.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a group that works to defend religious liberty, argues that not only will the legalization of same-sex marriage threaten marriage but, it will deny the children of same-sex couples their right to a mother and a father.
‘Politicians should never impose a system that intentionally deprives a child of a mother and father,’ ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin Nimocks said in an April 7 press release. ‘The state should do everything necessary to ensure that children aren’t denied their most important birthright: a mom and a dad.’
Linda McClain, a Boston University School of Law professor, said the reasons against legalizing same-sex marriage purported by these religious and conservative organizations do not make sense constitutionally.
‘How would civil marriage affect people’s religious liberty?’ she said. ‘The confusion is that in our legal system, we let religious people perform marriages that have civil consequences. They’re not telling any religion that they have to believe that marriage should include two men or two women.’
Connecticut, the third state to legalize same-sex marriage after Massachusetts and the now-repealed California, had an amendment added to a bill legalizing gay marriage that may protect religious groups.’ Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell signed the bill into law April 23, with an amendment allowing religious organizations to opt out of same-sex marriages if they choose to.
Smith said not every state will legalize gay marriage, but a case will eventually cause the Supreme Court to legalize it on the federal level.
‘That’s how we ended segregation and the ban on interracial marriage,’ she said. ‘The truth is, Alabama is never going to pass [same-sex] marriage on its own, but the Supreme Court is going to say that it is time to end discrimination in all states.’
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