There was Massachusetts, then Connecticut, then Iowa, followed closely by Vermont. Now New Hampshire is on its way to becoming the fifth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. The House of Representatives has already approved the bill, and the Senate passed it 13 to 11, with slightly amended language. The House must approve the changes before sending the bill to the governor. On top of that, on Thursday Maine’s Senate passed a bill that could lead to state approval of same-sex marriage. The bill will go to a vote in the House next week.
Suddenly it seems like the states are falling like dominoes into marriage equality camp. Liss at Shakesvile linked to a CBS News/New York Times poll wherein 42 percent of respondents expressed support for legal same-sex marriage. I still don’t really believe it. Another 25 percent of people favor civil unions, whilst 28 percent do not support any form of legal recognition. Liss used the word “contagious” to describe social progress. Is that what’s going on here? It just doesn’t seem possible that so many Americans favor marriage rights for gays, though of course I’m thrilled if that’s the case. Maybe right wingers and other bigots just shout so loudly that I incorrectly perceive they are the majority.
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In my state the voters in their infinite wisdom voted to change the state constitution to “define” marriage. I don’t know all the legal details but I never understood why citizens were allowed to vote on the issue in the first place. Isn’t it a legal, human rights issue that should be left to governments? I hope hope hope this is a contagious trend. And I am pretty sure a trend that will fly right over my backward state.
I hope this means the dominos are falling. I can’t help but get so paranoid that the other shoe will drop, like it eventually did in California. But I smiled a lot after reading this article about two women in Iowa who got married after 14 years together and three children.
I think that as soon as people see that other states are doing it and it doesn’t cause the kind of social upheaval the crazies predict, then people’s resistance begins to fade.
There’s been gay marriage in MA now for years and what’s happened? NOTHING. That’s the best argument possible.
It’s the same as when black and white kids started attending school together. What happened? NOTHING.
Yeah I do think there is a lot of groupthink on this issue and when the tide begins to turn a lot of people just sort of fall in line. I also think that truly anti-gay marriage folks are few but vocal and were over-empowered during the Bush years so it seemed like there were more of them.
It’s important that in Vermont (and, I hope, ME and NH), it was the legislature that enacted the change. This removes the “legislating from the bench” argument that gets conservatives all up in arms. The legislators are representatives of the people, and were elected by the people. A lot less to whine about. I’m sure there will be some nasty campaigns come election time against those who voted “yes,” but by that point, I hope, citizens will realize that their quality of life hasn’t actually gotten worse just because of teh gayz, as Becky said.
It seems like the north east part of the country saw what happened with prop 8 in California, said “hey, that’s messed up.” and then went about fixing their own states. Very awesome.
I never understood why anti-gay marriage activists get up in arms over the fact that gay rights are sometimes secured by the judiciary. It’s kind of the whole point of having constitutions and courts in order to check the democratic power of majorities and protect the rights of minorities like gays. It was the same thing with the civil rights movement. The only fucking thing I even remember learning in social studies and history for my entire public school education through high school was the separation of the branches of government, so I am sure these people have heard of it.
@BeckySharper: Doesn’t MA have the lowest divorce rate in the country? That kind of goes against the idea that gay marriage will ruin the institution for teh breeders.
JD, they get mad whenever gay rights (or minority rights of any kind) are secured, period. It just so happens the constitution tends to be on the side of progress, so they go with the “activist judges” attack (when it suits them).
Just a note that while NH may have voted for same sex marriage, they did vote 24-0 against protections based on gender identity partly due to the more and more popular “men in the ladies room” argument. So… while great, there is still a ways to go.
Damn. You’re right. I’m sorry I left that out. It’s always something. Might have to attack that ridiculous “argument” some day soon.