Wedding bells...keep ringing
Unless you were buried under a rock this past week, you know that the thought of wedding bells have been ringing across the nation for LGBT people. May 11 kicked it off with a much-anticipated gay commitment ceremony on the season finale of ABC's "Brothers & Sisters," making it the first same-sex union on U.S. network TV between series regulars.
Then the anticipated vote from the California Supreme Court came down on May 15 announcing that the ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional in a 4-3 majority ruling.
In March 2005, a Superior Court judge in San Francisco ruled that the law denying same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, but the California Court of Appeals overturned the decision in October 2006. The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court. The cases were brought by the city of San Francisco and 14 same-sex couples.
To top off the week-long marriage bliss, Ellen DeGeneres announced her plans to wed Portia de Rossi during her talk show, which aired on Friday. And then my fellow "Desperate Housewives" fans enjoyed the promise of a commitment ceremony between Wisteria Lane's gay duo Bob (Tuc Watkins) and Lee (Kevin Rahm), which took place on the show's season finale on Sunday. Or at least we think it did. The couple only got about three minutes of air-time during the entire 2-hour finale amidst all the other drama, which was at least-to-say, a let-down.
But don't break out the champagne or call the caterer just yet. "Careful what you wish for," colleagues that are married often joke. Marriage isn't that sacred of a place anymore. Yeah it's great or so for the first few years, they say, but then you've got the ho-hum factor of rarely having sex anymore and a staggering rate of divorce and then you're back on the dating scene heart-broken and wondering what the hell you were thinking in the first place. But the point is - that it's sacred to us when you think about the fact that it means we're equal - that our relationships are valid. That's where domestic partnerships and civil unions fall short. Under these positive, yet shortfall legislations the idea of "separate but equal" is alive and well and rearing its ugly little head.
And don't forget the battles that lay ahead. Even as same-sex couples across California begin mailing out wedding invitations, a coalition of religious groups called Protect Marriage claim to have collected more than 1.1 million signatures in support of an amendment to the California constitution that will bar same-sex couples from getting married. The initiative is expected to be approved by the California Secretary of State by the end of June once signatures have been verified. The last time the state's voters were asked to vote on the issue was in 2000 when Proposition 22 stated that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" was passed with 61 percent of the vote. The constitutional amendment, similar to ones enacted in 26 other states including South Carolina, would overrule the Court's decision. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released a statement saying he would abide by the ruling of the court and reiterated an earlier commitment to fight any such proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
California often leads the nation in social change, being the most populous state in the country. The decision last Thursday is sure to energize the fight for marriage equality and energize its opponents to fight harder as well. Following the decision, conservative lawmakers in Arizona and North Carolina filed proposed amendments to ban same-sex marriage. In North Carolina Sen. Jim Forrester wants to not only bar same-sex marriage but also civil unions and domestic partnerships. Previous attempts to amend the state constitution have bogged down in the House and never made it to a vote. And in Connecticut, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving eight same-sex couples seeking the right to marry nearly a year ago. Unlike California, there is no deadline for the Court's decision. Some activists believe that they were reluctant to be only the second state, next to neighboring Massachusetts, to allow same-sex marriage. The ruling in California may make that decision easier. Civil unions became legal in Connecticut in 2005, but still many businesses, hospitals and government agencies still do not recognize them.
To my friends in the Golden State, congratulations. Break open the champagne and celebrate. But while you're picking out rings and renting tuxes, make sure you keep your boxing gloves on. The battle for equality made a giant leap last week. Let's make sure it sticks.
Until next week, have fun and be safe.
-Chris Rudisill, Weekly Surge