The Normality of Gay
Marriages
EDITORIAL, NYTimes on
the Web, September 17, 2005
There's nothing like a touch of
real-world experience to inject some reason into the inflammatory national
debate over gay marriages. Take Massachusetts, where the state's highest
court held in late 2003 that under the State Constitution, same-sex couples have
a right to marry. The State Legislature moved to undo that decision last
year by approving a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages and
create civil unions as an alternative. But this year, when precisely the
same measure came up for a required second vote, it was defeated by a thumping
margin of 157 to 39.
The main reason for the flip-flop is that some 6,600 same-sex couples have
married over the past year with nary a sign of adverse effects. The
sanctity of heterosexual marriages has not been destroyed. Public morals
have not gone into a tailspin. Legislators who supported gay marriage in
last year's vote have been re-elected. Gay couples, many of whom had been
living together monogamously for years, have rejoiced at official recognition of
their commitment.
As a Republican leader explained in justifying his vote switch: "Gay
marriage has begun, and life has not changed for the citizens of the
commonwealth, with the exception of those who can now marry who could not
before." A Democrat attributed his change of heart to the beneficial
effects he saw "when I looked in the eyes of the children living with these
couples." Gay marriage, it turned out, is good for family values.
Some legislators who strongly oppose gay marriages also switched their votes
this year for tactical reasons. They realized that the original measure
was headed for defeat, and they had never really liked the part that created
civil unions anyway. They are now pinning their hopes on an even harsher
proposal, endorsed by Gov. Mitt Romney, that would ban gay marriages without
allowing civil unions.
We can only hope that this new appeal to fear and bigotry will stumble over the
reality, already apparent, that gay marriage is no threat to the larger
community. States that rushed to ban same-sex marriages after the
Massachusetts court ruling were succumbing to misplaced hysteria.
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