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THE WASHINGTON
POST
The Sky Isn't Falling
Experience may be
trumping hysteria over gay marriage.
EDITORIAL,
washingtonpost.com July 5, 2007,From the Web, July 9, 2007
WHEN THE high court of Massachusetts
ruled in 2003 that the commonwealth's constitution gave same-sex couples the
right to marry, detractors railed against "activist judges" who were "imposing"
their will on the people. Only the people, through their elected
representatives, should decide something so fundamental, they said. Thus
began an effort to amend Massachusetts's constitution by referendum to define
marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Four years and about 10,000
same-sex marriages later, here's what the people have said: never mind.
To get the referendum on the 2008 ballot, opponents of gay marriage needed only
50 of Massachusetts's 200 legislators to vote for the amendment during
consecutive two-year sessions. The first vote at the end of the last
session, in January, garnered the support of 62 lawmakers. But the second
vote last month attracted only 45. Now the earliest the amendment could
hit the ballot is 2012. By then, the response from the people very well
might be "What's the big deal?"
Opponents of same-sex unions felt democracy was under attack by the courts, with
judges dictating what people could and couldn't accept. Meanwhile,
supporters argued that the rights of a minority should not be put to a vote.
The ultimate defeat of the referendum was democracy catching up with the court.
Despite dire predictions, the institution of marriage didn't crumble under the
weight of homosexuals seeking the rights and responsibility that come with it.
The sky didn't fall in Massachusetts. Nor has it buckled in the District
of Columbia and the five states that offer civil unions or domestic partnerships
to gay couples. Washington state's domestic partnership law goes into
effect next month. Oregon's domestic partnership law and New Hampshire's
civil unions take effect in January 2008. Acceptance of gay marriage is by
no means widespread. Marriage is restricted to one man and one woman by
constitutional amendment in 26 states and by state law in 19 others. But
the tide is slowly changing. Opinion polls show growing acceptance of gay
rights.
At a commemoration last month of the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia,
the landmark Supreme Court case that struck down laws prohibiting interracial
marriage, Mildred Loving joined many civil rights organizations when she threw
her support behind gay marriage. "I believe all Americans, no matter their
race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that
same freedom to marry," she said. And as hysteria gives way to real-life
experience, more people will realize that the loving and committed relationships
of homosexuals should be recognized.
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