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Editorial, Boston Globe
Julie and Hillary Goodridge are celebrating their first wedding anniversary today, and the world, unsurprisingly, has not fallen off its axis. The women, who were among seven same-sex couples to sue for the right to marry under the Massachusetts Constitution, have spent the year in the ordinary pursuits of American families everywhere.
They have been joined by more than 5,000 other gay and lesbian couples who have exchanged wedding vows in Massachusetts since last May 17, without apparent catastrophic effect on the state, its families, or other marriages.
Indeed, US Census figures show that Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country -- boasting more family stability than any of the 18 states that have adopted constitutional bans on gay marriage. We would not claim that Arkansas, Kentucky, or Georgia suffer higher divorce rates because they have not legalized gay marriage. Similarly, there is no statistical validity to the claim that allowing gays to marry has undermined the institution here.
The mundane reality is that, as the result of the Supreme Judicial Court decision allowing these marriages, nearly every resident of the state now has gay married couples as neighbors. City and town hall records show there were 12 gay marriages performed over the past year in Agawam; 35 in Beverly; 16 in Dracut; and 30 in Haverhill. Although there surely has been a backlash nationally, stoked by conservative or religious groups, a slim majority in most polls opposes amending the US Constitution to ban gay marriage. And if demographics are destiny, the majorities of people under age 35 who shrug at the whole issue suggest broad acceptance nationwide is only a matter of time.
Another opportunity to measure the effects of gay marriage in Massachusetts will come this fall, when legislators again take up the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage -- but allowing parallel civil unions -- that they initially approved in March 2004. We are optimistic that the state's elected representatives will accept the thousands of individual commitments made in the past year and vote down the proposal. The legislators need not fear constituent anger: Every one of the legislators who voted against the ban last year was reelected; and three additional supporters of gay marriage won special House elections this spring.
It strains the imagination to see how a year of gay marriage has caused the state any discernible harm. Supporters even point to a modest economic boost due to tourism and other local spending on gay weddings. But the reason to toast today's wedding anniversaries has little to do with tax revenues and everything to do with the riches that come from extending civil rights to every citizen.
Posted on May 17, 2005 |
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