The Sky Isn’t Falling
The battle for same-sex marriage might be turning around, but there are still a lot of other issues important to the LGBT community.By Emily Rutherford
May 18, 2009
Julie Goodridge, left, and Hillary Goodridge learn of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling that same-sex couples are legally entitled to wed under the state constitution. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)Five years ago yesterday, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. At the time my family was living in a suburb of Boston and absolutely everyone was talking about the decision—from kids on the school bus to lawmakers to the residents of Provincetown, on Cape Cod, which is known as something of a gay mecca. Shortly after the decision, my family took a trip to Cape Cod after the first same-sex marriages took place, and I can’t think of another instance in which I’ve seen an entire town so happy. It was a landmark decision at the time, and one that is catching on now in other states.
The Goodridge decision was a sign to everyone in Massachusetts that things were changing, particularly as a proposed constitutional amendment to overturn same-sex marriage died in the state legislature in 2005, and marriage equality appeared to have established a firm foothold. Last Sunday marked the fifth anniversary of the first same-sex marriages in the United States. The general consensus is that the sky hasn’t fallen, particularly in Massachusetts, where married same-sex couples seem, if anything, to be a boon: marriage equality has brought over $100 million into the state economy. The past five years have shown us that same-sex couples and families are not really very different from anyone else—and, indeed, an April Washington Post/ABC poll found that for the first time, a plurality of Americans (49 percent) now supports same-sex marriage, as compared to 32 percent in 2004.
The backlash against the passage of California’s Proposition 8 in the November election certainly seems indicative of a growing discomfort with passing laws to limit rights of a minority group. People are changing their minds on the issue—such as New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, who opposed same-sex marriage in his most recent campaign but now says that he will sign a revised version of the marriage bill the state legislature has passed. Five years after the first same-sex marriages, things have never looked so good for the marriage equality movement: States are legalizing same-sex marriage at an exponential rate, and the oppositional efforts of groups like the National Organization for Marriage, the creators of the much-parodied "Gathering Storm" ad, appear ridiculous and ineffectual.
The victory for LGBT rights that was the Goodridge decision helped focus the movement almost exclusively on achieving same-sex marriage on a state-by-state basis, and this issue has certainly been discussed more than any other LGBT issue—more than Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, homophobic bullying in schools, hate crimes and employment discrimination legislation, or the rights of LGBT folks on the international level. But perhaps, now that marriage equality looks to be on a sure trajectory of success, it’s time to look beyond same-sex marriage as the main focus of the LGBT rights movement.
The more than 1,100 civil rights enshrined in the institution of marriage, like health care benefits and visitation rights, are worth fighting for, but they aren’t the only ways in which LGBT Americans are discriminated against. The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, for example, is a major issue on which a disturbing lack of progress has been made. Despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of Americans—75 percent, according to last year’s Washington Post/ABC poll—support allowing LGBT personnel to serve openly in the military. Repealing the policy has been supported by an increasing number of senior military officials. Still, there has been relatively little activism on this front—grassroots organizations such as Join the Impact currently seem to be focused on marriage equality, as do established New York or Washington, D.C.-based organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign or the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Little has been done on a large-scale political level to address less obvious forms of discrimination: safe schools initiatives would have been an appropriate response to the murder of Lawrence King last year, or to the two 11-year-old boys who killed themselves last month after being subjected to homophobic bullying. Little has been done on much more than a school-by-school level to address the fact that using "gay" as an insult is a normal occurrence in the schoolyard. Even something like the Food and Drug Administration’s prohibition on gay men giving blood, an outdated relic of the early days of AIDS, is not usually questioned as long as the next state to legalize same-sex marriage can headline the LGBT news.
This is not to say that marriage isn’t vitally important. Aside from awarding same-sex couples the actual legal benefits of marriage (though that won’t be fully realized until same-sex couples can access federal benefits as well), marriage equality normalizes the idea of same-sex relationships, and counteracts the stereotype of gay people being promiscuous or unstable. However, it is a narrow lens through which to view LGBT rights. The needs of LGBT folks in other countries are dire. In Iraq, being openly gay is not an option; in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and many other countries, homosexuality is punishable by death. Even in Russia, LGBT people are prohibited from assembling. In Moscow last Saturday, a gay pride march was broken up by police brutality on a level not seen in the United States in decades.
There is so much more that can be done, in this country and around the world, to ensure that LGBT people are free from discrimination—and from injury and death. Five years of marriage equality in Massachusetts have shown us that we might have a future for it in America. Now maybe it’s time to take a broader view.
Emily Rutherford is a staff writer with Campus Progress and a freshman at Princeton University.
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Comments
Thanks for this. I’m definitely a supporter of GLBT equality, and while I do think the fight for marriage is incredibly important, I also agree that there are plenty of other areas that deserve attention, particularly DADT and the incredibly discriminatory blood ban.
— Jacinta - May 18, 04:52 PM - #Keep your promise, President Obama
Tell the President to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and not to fire Lt. Dan Choi
Lt. Dan Choi, from Orange County, California, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an Iraq War veteran. Last March he went on Rachel Maddow’s show and spoke three truthful words: “I am gay.” As a result Lt. Choi received a letter from the Army on April 23 discharging him for violating the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He told Rachel Maddow the letter was “a slap in the face” to himself and the soldiers he as commanded and served with over the past decade. Lt. Choi is fighting to stay in the military and ensure that no other soldier is ever again discharged as a result of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The Courage Campaign and CREDO Mobile are joining his effort to secure equality in our armed forces. President Obama did not create this policy. But he now has the opportunity to keep his promise and allow gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly in the military. It’s the right thing to do — for justice and for national security
www.couragecampaign….
— Todd - May 18, 08:00 PM - #I think that Emily makes a good point but is discounting the important work of other organizations. Safe Schools, DADT, international LGBT rights and employment non-discrimination are all being addressed. Groups like the Family Equality Council, GLSEN, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, United ENDA and the Q Street Group are all working to advance the policy agenda for a host of issues that aren’t marriage related. HRC and the Task Force continue to support those issues and are working closely to best leverage the limited resources of the LGBT movement for all of our goals. Marriage just happens to be riding high on a wave of energy that has community activists, both new and veteran, engaged with renewed vigor right now. The rest of the work continues but the media spotlight just isn’t aimed that way.
— Robin Wood - May 21, 03:46 PM - #PFLAG is also working on all of these issues on the national and local levels.
Also, as someone who works for a gay rights organization, I couldn’t agree more! I’m actually surprised that marriage equality is gaining so much ground before we’ve even repealed DADT or passed ENDA! If you had asked me a few years ago, I would’ve predicted that marriage equality would be the last hurdle we jumped, not the first.
However, passing marriage equality legislation will allow people to see that, as you said, the sky won’t fall, which in turn will make it easier to rally support for other equally important gay rights issues.
— Julie H. - May 21, 05:44 PM - #