Ten years ago, at midnight on the steps of Cambridge City Hall, Massachusetts made history (again). I was there. It was one of the most happiness-filled public events I can recall.
We here in MA were the outliers then, but things have changed a lot in ten years. Now, according to FreedomToMarry.org, polling shows that substantial majorities of Americans in all regions of the country support same-sex marriage, and same-sex couples can marry “in 40% of the country” (I’m not sure how that 40% figure is measured). Even just the last few months have seen a flood of court decisions in unlikely places like Oklahoma, Arkansas and Idaho affirming the right of same-sex couples to marry (though some of those remain in legal limbo).
The Globe has a big section on the ten years since the SJC’s Goodridge decision went into effect, including a spiffy interactive timeline that lets you scroll through the years while the maps update to show you what was going on in the country at that time, and that offers details on where things stand in each state.
The looming cloud on the horizon remains what will happen when the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in, as it inevitably will given the federal court litigation that is working its way up the chain. We pretty much know where eight of the current Justices will come down (though Roberts could surprise us – I doubt he’d be the fifth vote to uphold a constitutional right to marry, but he might be the sixth so as to avoid a 5-4 split on an issue of this magnitude), so it’s all up to Justice Kennedy, as usual. There’s reason for cautious optimism – Kennedy, after all, has authored most of the important gay rights decisions over the last several years. But one should never count one’s chickens before they hatch when it comes to what the Court, and in particular what a single judge, will do when faced with a question that has not previously been squarely presented. And, of course, the membership of the Court could change in unexpected ways before the case actually gets up there.
But that’s all for another day. For today, enjoy the festivities, and give yourself a pat on the back for being part of the state that, ten years ago, showed the rest of the country the way forward. Again.
That’s an excellent description. What was remarkable to me was that all the chanting and sign-holding we’d all become so accustomed to doing in front of the State House absolutely vanished in front of Cambridge City Hall. Instead, people just laughed and sang and stood around being giddy. People were so happy that few even noticed that the Westboro Baptist Church was protesting across the street. When you’re too happy to care whether the Phelps clan is present, you know you’ve won.
And very happy my parents embraced marriage equality as early as I did. Glad to be there at the State House as a teen with my LGBT friends protesting in favor of gay marriage, glad my hometown was the first to issue licenses, and glad Mayor Sullivan was so eager to make sure Cambridge was first. So happy Ken Reeves was not only one of the first gay Mayors in the country, but one of the first gay men to get married in the US. A great day for my hometown, my home state, and I’ve always been proud that we were first. And I am absolutely certain we will eventually joined by every other state in the union-and soon.