On
November 6, 2012 voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington approved same-sex
marriage. A historic turning point, it is the first time that marriage for gay
men and lesbians has been approved at the ballot box. It had been voted down more
than 30 times.
In
Minnesota, in another first, voters rejected a proposal to amend the State
Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, a measure that
has been enshrined in the constitutions of 30 states. The votes meant that
same-sex marriage is now legal in nine states and the District of Columbia.
Rights
groups said the victories were an important sign that public opinion was
changing. Though same-sex marriage remains unpopular in the South, rights campaigners
see the potential for legislative gains in Delaware, Hawaii and Illinois.
Same-sex
marriage became a reality in the United States in 2004 in the wake of a ruling
by the Massachusetts Supreme Court that it was required under the equal
protection clause of the state’s Constitution. Prior to 2012, same-sex marriage
was also legalized in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and
Washington, D.C. Early in 2012, Washington State and Maryland both approved
same-sex marriage laws, but neither took effect immediately and were subject to
fall referendums.
In early
May, North Carolina voted in large numbers for a constitutional amendment that would
ban same-sex marriages, partnerships and civil unions, becoming the 30th state
in the country and the last in the South to include a prohibition on gay
marriage in the state constitution.
Days
later, on May 9, President Obama declared for the first time that he supports
same-sex marriage, putting the moral power of his presidency behind a social
issue that continues to divide the country. His support ended years of public
equivocating over the divisive social issue for the president, who previously
said he opposed gay marriage but repeatedly said he was “evolving” on the issue
because of contact with friends and others who are gay.
For more
than a decade, the issue has been a flashpoint in American politics, setting
off waves of competing legislation, lawsuits and ballot initiatives to either
legalize or ban the practice and causing rifts within religious groups.
The
legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States had been a relatively
recent goal of the gay-rights movement, but in the wake of the Massachusetts
ruling, gay-rights organizers have placed it at the center of their agenda,
steering money and muscle into dozens of state capitals in an effort to
persuade lawmakers. At the same time, conservative groups pushed hard to
forestall or reverse other courts through new laws or referendums.
Proponents
of same-sex marriage have long argued that the institution of marriage is a
unique expression of love and commitment and that calling the unions of
same-sex couples anything else is a form of second-class citizenship; they also
point out that many legal rights are tied to marriage. Those opposed to same-sex
marriage agree that marriage is a fundamental bond with ancient roots. But they
draw the opposite conclusion, saying that allowing same-sex couples to marry
would undermine the institution of marriage itself.
