In mid-September, members of the Massachusetts legislature voted overwhelmingly (39-157) to defeat a consitutional amendment that would have down-graded marriage rights for same-sex couples to civil unions. The Washington Post reported that the increased margin in votes to protect marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples (relative to an earlier vote on another attempt to pass a constitutional amendment) was a result of legislators seeing that life was really no different with gay couples getting married.
What?! You mean that gay marriage is not an attack on traditional family values and that it does not symbolize the end of all that is sacred? In the past year or so, Massachusetts denizens have found that we are as normal as any heterosexual couple seeking the legal benefits of marriage and that we respect the institution of marriage as much, if not more, than many heterosexual couples out there.
On the docket this week, though, is another celebration and step toward marriage equality. What would be a step back in Massachusetts is a step forward in Connecticut. On October 1, 2005, Connecticut will become the second state to allow civil unions (Vermont was the first) and couples will be asking more about how to make their unions legally binding. For a brief overview on civil unions in Connecticut, click here or, better, yet download a thorough overview, courtesy of GLAD.
For more information on the marriage equality movement, go to Marriage Equality USA, a non-profit organization whose mission is to "secure the freedom and the rights of same-sex couples to enter a legally-recognized civil marriage having all the federal and state benefits and responsibillities which that entails."