The tide of marriage for same-sex couples has ebbed and flowed over the last decade with no end in sight. Because marriage sits squarely at the intersection of religion, law and society, the discussion around same-sex couples’ inclusion into the institution of marriage has been one of the most complex and hotly contested topics in America.
Massachusetts no longer shuts committed same-sex couples out of marriage. The sky has not fallen, and actually communities are better off, because promoting responsibility is good for everyone. As observed by the Massachusetts newspaper The Republican, “even some of [the] most vocal opponents have come to realize that the controversy over [allowing access to] marriage was a lot of fuss about nothing.” In fact, The Boston Globe reported that in the first election after the discrimination ended, “every challenger to a supporter of gay marriage was defeated.”
On the anniversary of the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Massachusetts, the Globe declared in a May 17, 2005, editorial that “[i]t strains the imagination to see how a year of [allowing access to] marriage has caused the state any discernible harm.” Relating to the fuss raised over so-called traditional marriage, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia explained in his dissent to Lawrence v. Texas that the argument for “preserving the traditional institution of marriage . . . is just a kinder way” of expressing disapproval of same-sex couples.
As a nation, will we support or undermine the lifelong promise to take care of and be responsible for one another? When we support commitments, everybody wins.
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