The Polics of Gay Marriage Campaign 2008

Contents:

• THE POLICS OF GAY MARRIAGE CAMPAIGN 2008
• GAY MARRIAGE
• MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE
• CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS COULD REMOVE IT NEXT YEAR
• MORE SUPPORT FOR GUN RIGHTS, GAY MARRIAGE THAN 2008 OR 2004
• AXELROD: OBAMA MISLED NATN WHEN HE OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE IN 2008

THE POLICS OF GAY MARRIAGE CAMPAIGN 2008

The Supreme Court of Massachetts had legalized gay marriage. Pictur of same-sex upl smoochg San Francis were fact a powerful get-out-the-vote tool for socially nservative voters, who propelled the anti-gay marriage measur to victory all 13 stat, and helped bolster Gee W. Even though opponents of gay marriage California vow to fight on—a measure to amend the state nstutn to ban same-sex marriage is likely to be on the ballot this November—the issue is unlikely to pack the same punch as did only four years ago.

Even though a majory of Amerins (56 per cent, acrdg to a Gallup poll last week) oppose gay marriage, public opn is shiftg, pecially when to nferrg equal rights to same-sex upl by grantg civil unns. Barack Obama and Hillary Clton oppose gay marriage, but approve of civil unns.

GAY MARRIAGE

But McCa watchers say 's more important that the ndidate didn't mentn the California cisn—or his own posn on gay marriage— a major speech he gave the same day outlg his printial agenda. "His heart's not , " says one rmal adviser to McCa, not thorized to speak for his mpaign, of the battle over gay marriage.

MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

While the issue may help him ga tractn wh some on the relig right, 's unlikely that agreement on gay marriage alone will be enough to mobilize nservative voters who are wary of McCa's maverick streak on social issu. " He said the Constutn "properly mt be terpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex upl as well as oppose-sex upl.

Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn. ” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups. Though the gay rights movement saw some advancements the 1970s and 1980s—such as Harvey Milk beg the first openly gay man elected to public office the untry 1977—the fight for gay marriage ma ltle headway for many years.

In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners. C., 1993, the hight urt Hawaii led that a ban on same-sex marriage may vlate that state nstutn’s Equal Protectn Clse—the first time a state urt has ever ched toward makg gay marriage Hawaii Supreme Court sent the se—brought by a gay male uple and two lbian upl who were nied marriage licens 1990—back for further review to the lower First Circu Court, which 1991 origally dismissed the the state tried to prove that there was “pellg state tert” jtifyg the ban, the se would be tied up ligatn for the next three Defense of Marriage Act Opponents of gay marriage, however, did not s on their hnch.

CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS COULD REMOVE IT NEXT YEAR

Congrs 1996 passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Print Bill Clton signed to didn’t ban gay marriage outright but specified that only heterosexual upl uld be granted feral marriage benefs. That is, even if a state ma gay marriage legal, same-sex upl still wouldn’t be able to file e tax jotly, sponsor spo for immigratn benefs or receive spoal Social Secury payments, among many other act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S.

Phg for Change: Civil Unns The next saw a whirlwd of activy on the gay marriage ont, begng wh the year 2000 when Vermont beme the first state to legalize civil unns, a legal stat that provis most of the state-level benefs of years later, Massachetts beme the first state to legalize gay marriage when the Massachetts Supreme Court led that same-sex upl had the right to marry Goodridge v. The state fally troduced the untry to gay marriage (m the feral benefs) when began issug same-sex marriage licens on May 17, that year, the U.

Bh—that would outlaw gay marriage across the untry. 2004 was notable for upl many other stat as well, though for the oppose reason: Ten typilly nservative stat, along wh Oregon, enacted state-level bans on gay marriage. Kansas and Texas were next 2005, and 2006 saw seven more stat passg Constutnal amendments agast gay towards the end of the , gay marriage beme legal var stat, cludg Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (the first state to approve by legislative means) and New Hampshire.

MORE SUPPORT FOR GUN RIGHTS, GAY MARRIAGE THAN 2008 OR 2004

Domtic Partnerships Throughout the and the begng of the next, California equently ma headl for seawg on the gay marriage state was the first to pass a domtic partnership statute 1999, and legislators tried to pass a same-sex marriage bill 2005 and 2007.

AXELROD: OBAMA MISLED NATN WHEN HE OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE IN 2008

Perry legalized same-sex marriage early 2010s ntued the state-level battl over gay marriage that fed the precedg , wh at least one notable event.

For the first time the untry’s history, voters (rather than judg or legislators) Mae, Maryland, and Washgton approved Constutnal amendments permtg same-sex marriage marriage also beme a feral issue 2010, Massachetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, found Sectn 3 of DOMA—the part of the 1996 law that fed marriage as a unn between one man and one woman—to be unnstutnal. Wdsor, nservative Jtice Anthony Kennedy sid wh Jtic Ruth Bar Gsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately makg gay marriage legal across the natn June this time, was still outlawed only 13 stat, and more than 20 other untri had already legalized gay marriage, startg wh the Netherlands December 2000.