First, a brief history lesson: Massachusetts was the second of the original 13 colonies to abolish slavery: Vermont took the lead in 1777; Massachusetts followed six years later. There was no popular vote. There was no legislative action. Slavery was abolished by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), which 211 years later ruled that according to the Massachusetts Constitution — which is 11 years older than the US Constitution — it is unlawful to deny people the right to marry someone of the same sex.
As we all know, it was not until after the Civil War and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation that slavery was abolished nationwide by the 13th Amendment, passed in 1865. When all is said and done, Massachusetts was 82 years ahead of the curve when it came to eradicating the abomination of slavery.
Once again, thanks to the SJC, Massachusetts is ahead of the curve: this time in sanctioning gay marriage. However, Vermont does get a competitive nod for being the first to adopt admirable — but still less comprehensive — civil unions.
This is something members of the Massachusetts House and Senate should keep in mind when they meet next month at a Constitutional Convention to consider whether to allow a statewide vote that could, in effect, nullify the SJC’s decision to grant couples of the same sex who wish to marry the same rights enjoyed by those of opposite sexes.
This box-score approach to recounting history has its limitations, of course. Ending slavery and promoting racial justice prove to be two very different things. But before the notion of ending slavery could become a fact, it had to be an idea. And before the notion that people of all races should be treated equally under the law could become a fact, it, too, had to become an idea. Just as allowing women the right to vote and granting them equal pay for equal work had to progress from a general notion to a concrete and actionable idea. People who are still uncomfortable with the idea of same-sex couples who wish to bind their lives together — legally as well as romantically — should understand that they are swimming against the tide, as hard as that may be to accept.
Things change. Circumstances change. Life changes. And no matter how unsettling it may be, flux is a given: nothing stands still — at least for long. Girls and young women at one point had little say in the question of whom they would marry. Women at one point were denied all but the most restrictive rights to property. People of differing races at one point were forbidden to marry one another. At one point, neither men nor women were allowed to divorce — except under the narrowest circumstances. There was a time when only straight, married couples could adopt.
There was a time when the idea of challenging these notions would have been considered kooky, even stark raving mad. But today — though some may still be uncomfortable with altering such strictures — the changes are generally recognized by all. Today, for example, adoption by gay Americans is legal in all but a handful of states.
The fact of the matter is that the idea of what marriage is has changed radically throughout history, significantly so over the course of our parents’ and grandparents’ lives.
So, too, has science’s notion of what is common — and uncommon — in sexual behavior changed and evolved. Sexual activity between two consenting partners of the same gender is as old as recorded history. Nevertheless, science until recently held that only humans were capable of engaging in sex with those of the same gender. Strict moralists through the centuries cited this assumption as proof that homosexual acts were unnatural and thus an abomination. But it turns out that birds, goats, dolphins, giraffes, and other animals (as well as humans) engage is same-sex partnering. It’s as natural as, well, Noah’s Ark.
While 24 states across the nation have effectively outlawed gay marriage since the SJC sanctioned it in Massachusetts, the political tide appears to be changing. New Jersey and New Hampshire have joined Vermont in allowing civil unions, and similar moves are expected to get under way in Rhode Island and Maine. Civil unions, of course, are not marriages, but they will most likely morph into them. The demographic pressure will be just too great. Polls show that all over the nation, adults in their 20s — be they liberal or conservative — strongly favor same-sex-marriage rights. As with the abolition of slavery, the granting of women’s suffrage, and the legalization of interracial marriage, legally authorizing same-sex marriage nationwide is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
Here are 5 things you can do to ensure that same-sex marriage in Massachusetts is not compromised or repealed:
1. Talk to your legislators
http://www.massequality.org/action/start.php
2. Write your local newspapers
http://www.massequality.org/action/lte.php
3. Talk to your friends and neighbors
http://www.massequality.org/action/tell.php
4. Volunteer with the following organizations:
MassEquality:http://www.massequality.org/action/volunteer.php
Freedom to Marry Coalition of Massachusetts:http://www.ftmc.org/take_action/volunteer.php
GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders):http://www.glad.org/Join_Us/
5. Donate Money to the following organizations:
MassEquality:http://www.massequality.org/action/don.php
The Freedom To Marry Coalition of Massachusetts: https://secure.ga3.org/01/joinus
GLAD:http://www.glad.org/Donate_to_GLAD/
