These are the days that make me proud to be an American

[ebonlock]

Mass. Court Strikes Down Gay-Marriage Ban


"Whether and whom to marry, how to express sexual intimacy, and whether and how to establish a family — these are among the most basic of every individual's liberty and due process rights," the majority opinion said. "And central to personal freedom and security is the assurance that the laws will apply equally to persons in similar situations."

"Barred access to the protections, benefits and obligations of civil marriage, a person who enters into an intimate, exclusive union with another of the same sex is arbitrarily deprived of membership in one of our community's most rewarding and cherished institutions," the opinion said.


About damn time.

Comments

[tersa.livejournal.com]

Not to rain on the parade, but the court has also given the legislature 180 days to 'do something about it'.

The court, in a 4-3 ruling, ordered the Legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days....

The Massachusetts question will now return to the Legislature, which already is considering a constitutional amendment that would legally define a marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The state's powerful Speaker of the House, Tom Finneran of Boston, has endorsed this proposal.

The article, which I grabbed from juliansinger's journal.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Not to rain on the parade, but the court has also given the legislature 180 days to 'do something about it'.

True, but the question has been opened up for discussion. It's a foot in the door, so to speak, and removing gay marriage from the realm of "religious/moral" context and showing us that if we're talking about a legal institution that includes certain rights and privileges, the law should not be biased against one group and not another. This is precisely where the fight should be focusing, and I see it as a step in the right direction.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

This is precisely where the fight should be focusing, and I see it as a step in the right direction.

I totally agree. :) I'm just not liking the wimping out the courts took by giving the legislature the opportunity to change things. :P

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. :) I'm just not liking the wimping out the courts took by giving the legislature the opportunity to change things. :P


Me either, but it really is a huge step, just acknowledging that same sex couples should have the same rights as hetero couples. Will the religious right do their best to fight this and "protect" marriage (from what I can't understand, I mean it's not like hetero couples will lose their rights or something)? Oh, probably, they seem to be lacking in useful and positive ways to spend their time and energy. But right now I've got very high hopes and I'd like to enjoy this small victory.

[centerfire.livejournal.com]

Realistically, the Massachusetts legislature can't do anything about this, so the court hardly "wimped out". A state constitutional amendment would be necessary to reverse the court (I do not believe that the Massachusetts legislature has the power to limit the jurisdiction of the state Supreme Judicial Court, the way Congress can with the SCOTUS), and in Massachusetts that requires the approval of two successive legislatures, as well as ratification by the electorate as a whole. It's neither a sure bet nor a short-term response.

The 180-day stay is the court mugging for the cameras: "See how magnanimous we are; we're giving the legislature an opportunity to weigh in." But in practical terms it doesn't really have an affect on anything, besides delaying when the flood of marriage license applications from gay couples will begin.

[centerfire.livejournal.com]

I blogged a little about this here (http://tabula-rasa.filidh.org/archives/000639.html), in the form of a memo to my more conservative friends.

My own feelings on this outcome are more mixed. I want gay folks to be treated fairly, but there's a large and visible minority within the heterosexual population that actively seeks to subvert social norms (these are the folks who turn Pride parades from expressions of solidarity into exercises in tastelessness), and this is going to be a big hit with those folks -- whose agenda I do not support -- as much as with Joe and Ted Queer, who just want to be able to make healthcare decisions for one another without the cost and hassle of setting up a power-of-attorney arrangement.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

My own feelings on this outcome are more mixed. I want gay folks to be treated fairly, but there's a large and visible minority within the heterosexual population that actively seeks to subvert social norms (these are the folks who turn Pride parades from expressions of solidarity into exercises in tastelessness), and this is going to be a big hit with those folks -- whose agenda I do not support -- as much as with Joe and Ted Queer, who just want to be able to make healthcare decisions for one another without the cost and hassle of setting up a power-of-attorney arrangement.

I think every group out there has a few members that make the rest groan and shake their heads sadly. But I don't think the entire group should be denied legal protection or rights because of it. And frankly I think there's a pretty good sized minority of hetero folks who wouldn't mind subverting social norms either. :)

[centerfire.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's more than a few -- the Pride parades I've been to have seemed less like expressions of solidarity and more like demonstrations of tastelessness -- but I do take your meaning.

Mostly I was trying to articulate why, while I support this particular outcome, I'm having a difficult time standing up and cheering about it.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Mostly I was trying to articulate why, while I support this particular outcome, I'm having a difficult time standing up and cheering about it.

I get where you're coming from, and I respect your position though it differs from mine. Personally I see stuff like "Joe Millionaire" and "For Better or For Worse" doing more harm to straight marriage than anything the gay community could possibly come up with...but I'm not much of a reality t.v. fan either ;)