Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels

eighty percent of gay-union licenses in Vermont had gone to nonresidents. These civil unions
were marriages in virtually every legal sense except by name. For some the marital bliss was
short lived. Town clerks and attorneys shortly received calls about how to terminate a civil
union. Although residency was not required to obtain a civil union, getting out of the union
was a little more difficult. The fine print spelled out that a residency of six months was required
by at least one of the partners to dissolve a union (Drummond, 2001).
Other states were concerned that gay activists would travel to Vermont, get ‘married’,
return home and sue for legal recognition of their status. Many states made efforts to protect
marriage from legal assault by passing a state Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as the
union of a man and a woman (Daniels, 2000).
Following a decision in June of 2003 by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the nation’s
sodomy laws, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled, 4 to 3, in November of 2003 that
same-sex marriage was permissible under the State’s Constitution (Seelye and Elder, 2003).
Promoting a Federal Defense of Marriage Act
The court decisions extending legal rights to gays made many Americans increasingly
uncomfortable with same-sex relations. A growing concern developed about having courts set
social agendas that hadn’t been approved by the legislatures. Because of a concern that samesex
marriage activists would encourage federal courts to intervene in the debate over marriage
to remove state-law barriers to same-sex marriage, a movement developed in support for an
amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriages. A New York Times/CBS News poll
in 2003 found that 55 percent of Americans favored an amendment to the Constitution that
would allow marriage only between a man and a woman, while 40 percent opposed.
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., with 106 co-sponsors ,introduced a constitutional
amendment in the House in May of 2003, although the measure in the Senate had only a few
supporters. Musgrave said. “… if the definition of marriage is to be changed, it should be done
by the American people, not four judges in Massachusetts.” President Bush voiced support
saying, ”I will support a constitutional amendment which would honor marriage between a man
and a woman” (Seelye and Elder, 2003).
California Wrestles with Same-Sex Marriage
Same-sex marriage was a contentious issue in California. San Francisco is a cultural center
for gay rights. California also has a large representation of Hispanic Catholics and strong
Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010
Dr. M. L. Coppock
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