Massachusetts is one of the earliest state in US to permit gay
marriages..
The normality of gay marriages
New York Times
Editorial
September 17, 2005
www.nytimes.com/2005/09/17/opinion/20sat2.html
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.
