The issue of same-sex marriage has become the most prominent and highly publicized cultural controversy in the United States over the past few months. Long simmering in certain parts of the country, it burst onto the national stage after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in November 2003 that the state must extend full marriage rights to same-sex couples—and it gave the legislature six months to conform its laws with the decision. Although the Massachusetts legislature is currently considering a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would restrict those rights, the earliest such an amendment could be added would be in 2006. Thus, on May 17, 2004 it will be legal for same-sex couples to be married in the state with all the standard rights and responsibilities—at least for two years.
The initial Massachusetts ruling energized both supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage across the country. Public officials in municipalities from San Francisco to New Paltz, New York have been performing marriages, even though in most cases the legality of such marriages remains in doubt. Opponents, meanwhile, were cheered by President Bush’s announcement on February 24 that he backed a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would codify marriage as between a man and woman only.
Amending the Constitution is a relatively complicated and difficult process. Moreover, it is unclear that a measure to do so would receive the necessary two-thirds approval in Congress—which could conceivably vote on it as early as the summer of 2004—before being sent to individual states for ratification. Even so, there is a very real possibility that such an amendment could be approved. If successful, this would be the first time in history that the Constitution was amended to deny, rather than expand, rights to a class of people.
The public debate and discourse has always been about more than just marriage, of course. The larger issue concerns the status, rights, and acceptance of gays and lesbians within U.S. society overall. Progressive organizations that seek to advance gay rights and eradicate de facto and de jure discrimination recognize that the passage of this amendment could have a devastating effect on their efforts and cause undue social, legal, and economic harm to a vulnerable minority.
As part of its mission to improve human rights conditions in the United States, the Open Society Institute has long supported groups working on gay rights issues. Many of its grantees are playing leading roles in the burgeoning opposition to the proposed amendment, and OSI plans to continue helping them and other like-minded organizations and individuals during this crucial time and beyond.
The following are among the organizations that have received grants recently from OSI for their efforts regarding same-sex marriage and gay rights issues in general:
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Freedom to Marry
Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues, Inc.
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders/Park Square Advocates, Inc.
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, Inc.
Human Rights Campaign Foundation
International Lesbian and Gay Association – Europe (ILGA-Europe)
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation