The quest for marriage equality is not that new of a thing, really. The first court challenges began to show up soon after the signing of the last of the Civil Rights Acts by President Johnson in the later 1960s.
Following several "thou shalt nots" over the next couple of decades, Massachusetts became the first state in 2004 to proclaim marriage is the only way to equally protect its citizens. Now, opponents of marriage equality will say that you can't use Liberal-chusetts as an example for the whole country. I'm not going to debate the bipolar political vortex that is the state that elected Ted Kennedy and Mitt Romney, so I invite you to take a look at Iowa instead. The Hawkeye State shucked it's corn belt of discriminatory chastity in 2009, and as far as I can see, nothing much has changed except for continued citizen polling in a positive, less punitive direction. And for the prognostications of those slippery-slopers, I checked the census, and I find no record of any Iowan marrying a farm animal…yet.
Fast-forward ten years from Massachusetts saying I do, and where are we now? Following the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rulings striking down California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), there are seventeen states (plus Washington, DC) actively and legally marrying their citizens. In the shadow of SCOTUS on DOMA, two federal district judges have declared the state marriage bans of Utah and Oklahoma prohibitive according to the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. Now, the Oklahoma judge stayed his ruling pending further judicial review, meaning that it's not yet OK to marry in Oklahoma, but for hundreds of gay couples in Utah (yes, there are hundreds), they have a license to drill (each other) due to the state officials being shocked out of their anti-gay under garments and not filing an immediate stay. Utah marriages were eventually halted by SCOTUS Justice Sotomayor until briefs can be submitted to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Then what? Well, I predict Mr. (and Mr.) Smith goes to Washington where the Supreme Court, which has until this point purposely avoided the national issue, will have to rule on the whole.
If that's not enough to get your gay heartbeat nearing defibrillation, the Attorney General of the State of Virginia, Mark Herring, just declared the state's marriage ban as unconstitutional and will not defend it against litigation. Yes, Virginia, there is an equality cause. By the way, AG Herring's margin of victory in November's election was 165 out of 2.2 million…now tell me it is not important to vote in off-year elections. I have to say, though, the fearful rush of states such as Indiana to institute these archaic, anti-liberty bans before SCOTUS rules, is as transparent as a pair of Lululemon yoga pants and is just as mean-spirited in its justification. Come on, you Hoosiers, get in the game.
Yes, fortunately, these state bans are beginning to crumble under the scrutiny of established law; Lady Justice finally peeked from under her blindfold and removed that not-so-good book tipping the scales of equality in favor of discrimination. In these United States, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness might have been won against King George, but in my opinion, it is the victory over the tyrannical use of King James that will finish the American revolution.
What does this all mean for marriage equality? I hesitate to guess, but it is a most exciting time. You know, Gandhi gets all the credit, but I'm pretty sure it was Melissa Etheridge that said, "Be the change you want to see." Since the 1970s, there has been slow, but steady positive change in public opinion and perception. I believe this is because LGBT families have been living their lives a little prouder and a little louder and a little braver than they ever have before. Say what you want about the importance of "celebrities" coming out, you will never, ever convince me that the people seen from the sterile distance from sofa to television or from theater seat to movie screen will ever overshadow the significance of the living truth of next door neighbors and carpool drivers, Sunday school teachers and co-workers.
By this time next year, or by the time the next Presidential cycle comes around, will I be married? I don't know, but I would hope it would be because of my/our decision instead of an ill-conceived overreach of majority rule that considers me less than an American because of who I love. Love is love, and what is joined by lawful declaration, let no man with a political agenda put asunder. Declare this union indivisible, with liberty, and justice…for us all.