Celebrating Twenty Years of Same Sex Marriage

Though weddings and marriages are not considered sacred rituals or sacraments in most Protestant denominations, there is a sense that, no matter what, it is a sacred moment when two (or three for those in polyamorous relationships), say “yes” or “I do.” Having been married twice--once to a woman and the second time to Christian Halstead--each wedding ceremony was special, remarkable, and memorable, including the build up to the wedding vows and exchange of rings on the day of the wedding. Music; wedding ceremony participants; Order of Worship of wedding itself (I am a minister, after all, and it must have a certain flow); space or place of the wedding ceremony; clothes and rings; and the marriage license, of course. Don’t forget the license! All of this matters, whether it is a heterosexual wedding or same sex wedding. And of course there are the events before the “big day,” as well as the reception afterwards, followed by a honeymoon. And why is it such a big affair? First, over one-thousands laws automatically go in effect for the wedded couple, covering a lot of financial and medical issues that come to the surface in an emergency. Second, a commitment has been made to another person. A promise is in place. To have and to hold, from this day forward kind of thing, through sickness and in health, no matter what. 

That’s why it is also important to celebrate how many years same sex couples have been able to be married. Same sex weddings are still new to this world in general, and the US in particular. And we learned this week, again, that some people would rather we simply not marry or wed because we are gay. That’s it. Gay. It has been twenty years since the first same sex wedding in Massachusetts. Gov. Romney, then Governor of MA, went crazy watching same sex marriages take place in his state. The first in the nation. 

This is from Zachary Wolf of CNN, reporting on the first same sex wedding:"It’s hard to believe today, when the vast majority of Americans support it, but just 20 years ago the issue of same-sex marriage divided the country and drove voter turnout. The vast majority of Americans opposed same-sex marriage on May 17, 2004, when the first same-sex couples took their vows after a court decision in Massachusetts. The state’s Republican governor at the time, Mitt Romney, planned to invoke an archaic 1913 law in an attempt to bar same-sex couples from traveling from other states to obtain marriages in Massachusetts.” A lot of states, including OR, quickly started to amend their state constitutions with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), pushed by then-Pres. George W Bush and henchman, Karl Rove, in which marriage is defined as a union of one man and one woman. George and Karl used DOMA and same sex wedding as a wedge issue, trying to split the parties and the votes. George W.--who also put Alito in power as a Supreme Court Justice--was against same sex weddings. Conservatives have always been a problem when it comes to human rights.

At the time, twenty years ago, around 35% of US citizens approved of same sex unions, but not marriages. Today, over 70% support same sex weddings and marriages in most states, and not simply same sex unions. Of course, the Obergefell decision changed everything, making same sex marriages possible throughout the US. However, were Obergefell to be overturned by the Supreme Court of the US, then a lot of states would go back to their state constitutions and prohibit same sex marriage because the language of DOMA has not been rescinded in these states, just overruled by SCOTUS ruling that same sex marriage is the law of the land. We’ve got work to do.

Here’s a link to the article: https://www.advocate.com/news/same-sex-marriage-massachusetts

As we celebrate twenty years of same sex weddings in the US, the work is not done, as I wrote above. We must make same sex weddings and marriages the law of the land, permanently. SCOTUS is out to overturn all this. Such permanence will take an act of Congress and the White House.

In other words, VOTE BLUE!

And all of God’s people say...Amen.

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