Gay marriages spark legal battles, new laws
Gay marriages are now at the forefront of legal battles. Since May 17, it has been legal for same-sex couples to get married in Massachusetts, although it is not clear how long it is going to stay that way. In November, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that gay couples should have full marriage rights — not just civil unions — clearing the way for same-sex marriages to begin. Gay couples from near and far rushed to the New England state to apply for marriage licenses and hold legitimate ceremonies, but when some got home, they learned that their unions might not be recognized in their states.
Across Massachusetts, city halls and county courthouses were overflowing with same-sex couples in May, although the rush seems to be over. In Boston, about 100 couples lined up May 17 to apply for licenses and 240 couples were waiting when Cambridge City Hall opened its doors at midnight to begin the application process. It has been estimated that 2,500 gay couples sought marriage licenses the first week of legalized gay marriage in Massachusetts.
As the number of marriages has since slowed, and other states are deciding whether to recognize the Massachusetts marriages, Gov. Mitt Romney has spoken out against same-sex marriages. He and Attorney General Tom Reilly have found a 1913 law that declares that couples cannot marry in Massachusetts unless they are eligible to marry in their own states. Only days after the first same-sex marriage took place, he ordered that all clerks stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples from states with a Defense of Marriage Act (DMA), a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
What the governor did not count on was a small group of city clerks in Provincetown, Somerville, Springfield and Worcester, who opposed the governor’s order and continued to process marriage applications — until Reilly issued an order on May 21 to force them to stop. Currently, only Massachusetts residents and those who live in states without the DMA are legally allowed to marry. In mid-June, eight couples and 13 municipalities filed lawsuits challenging the 1913 law, claiming the law is unconstitutional and that it is discriminatory to enforce it.
This fall, gay marriage opponents want to see the passage of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. With all 200 seats up for election in Massachusetts, Romney is encouraging the passage of such an amendment. He says that the issue must be confronted nationally. The week of July 12, the Senate will begin considering the Federal Marriage Act (FMA), which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman only. If passed, it would outlaw marriage for same-sex couples in all 50 states.
David Miller, vice president for Citizens for Community Values, a group that wants the FMA to pass, sees support for banning gay marriages. “In Montana, they collected enough signatures to put [gay marriage] on the ballot,” Miller says. “In Hawaii, they changed their constitution, taking the power out of the judges’ hands, saying that the legislature will decide what marriage is.”
Mathew Staver, president and general counsel for Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel, says that people who have been undecided about gay marriage are expressing definite opinions on it. “Right now, people who didn’t really have a so-called ‘opinion’, are now having a gag reflex, because it’s being choked down their throats,” Staver says. “You have to remember that there has been one loss ever in the courts to ban same-sex marriage, and that was in Massachusetts.”
The time to vote on whether same-sex couples should be denied equal marriage rights is coming in Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah. Legislators in some other states, such as Arkansas, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon, still are considering a marriage referendum. Until the votes are counted, the decision remains split, and across the country, there is likely to be fallout no matter the outcome.
