National
Marriage was the story of the year in 2009
Supporters of LGBT rights faced many ups and downs in 2009, but no issue proved as tumultuous or gained as much attention as the ongoing fight over marriage rights.
Alternating between legislative defeats in Maine and New York and victories in four states and Washington, D.C., the issue figured prominently into the national discourse. The momentum behind efforts to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples last year was unprecedented and often gave gay rights activists reason to celebrate.
Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, called the advancement of same-sex marriage in 2009 a “capstone to a decade of extraordinary progress.”
“At the end of the decade,” he said, “[we have] five states plus the District of Columbia having the freedom to marry, others shimmering within reach and well more than a third of Americans living in a place where same-sex couples have at least some measure of statewide recognition and protection.”
M.V. Lee Badgett, a lesbian economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said the advancement of same-sex marriage is striking particularly in states that already allowed relationship recognition.
“I think the main thing that we learned is that states are ready to legalize same-sex marriage and it happened in several places that have civil unions or domestic partnerships,” she said. “Legislators realized, [at] the request of their constituents, that those statuses were not the same.”
Joining Massachusetts and Connecticut this year in legalizing same-sex marriage were four states — Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire — as well as D.C. The victory in Maine was short-lived, though, as voters there overturned the decision in November through a “people’s veto” at the ballot box.
Social conservatives highlighted the loss of same-sex marriage in Maine — in addition to the failure of the New York State Senate to pass marriage legislation in December — as evidence of resistance to granting marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples throughout the country.
Jenny Tyree, marriage analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the repeal of the marriage law in Maine “further clarified” that “the majority of Americans support the ‘one-man, one-woman’ definition of marriage.”
“There were judicial and legislative decisions that redefined marriage in a handful of states and in the District,” she said. “That was disheartening, but ultimately, we’re pleased that Maine affirmed the decision of voters in 30 other states who say they did not want marriage to be redefined.”
But Wolfson cautioned against reading too much into Maine voters’ decision to overturn the marriage law, arguing that “we’ve been there before and when we stuck with it, we went on to win.”
“Let’s remember that in 1998, the Maine Legislature passed a non-discrimination law, and that was overturned by the voters, too,” he said. “And then we passed it again in the legislature in 2000, and it was overturned again. And then we passed it a third time in 2005, and only then were we able to sustain it at the ballot.”
Wolfson said continuing the conversations about why marriage rights are important for same-sex couples will protect those rights in the future when they’re challenged.
“Maine also showed that we have to push forward just a notch beyond where we are and bring over another small slice of people who have not yet seen the visibility of gay families,” he said. “If we had had those conversations, and that greater bit of visibility with just 16,000 more people, we would have held the freedom to marry in Maine.”
In addition to the advancement of same-sex marriage rights, 2009 also saw greater support for gay nuptials among the electorate, according to recent polls.
One noteworthy poll from April published by Washington Post-ABC News found, for the first time, a plurality of Americans in favor of same-sex marriage. Among those polled, 49 percent said they favored marriage rights for same-sex couples, while 46 percent said they should be illegal.
Badgett said recent polling shows that while same-sex marriage still doesn’t enjoy support from a majority of Americans, attitudes are changing.
“There’s not yet a majority, but there is increasing support,” she said. “And I think it’s quite possible that people that will change their minds over time.”
But Tyree discounted the recent polling data, and said the numbers don’t reflect what happens when same-sex marriage is brought to the voters in individual states.
“It seems like when they really have a chance to think about it, they decided to continue to define it between one man and one woman,” she said. “Yes, the national polling has some merit, but it doesn’t seem to have been any real predictive factor at the state level.”
Polls also continue to show strong support for same-sex marriage among young people. The Washington Post-ABC News poll, for example, found that among responders under the age of 35, two-thirds supported same-sex marriage.
But despite that level of support, Tyree said the position of young people on same-sex marriage is “really still in play.”
“I think that the jury is still out on what they will decide as they start families and become more aware of what’s at stake with the push for redefining marriage,” she said. “Nothing is inevitable, and I think that that is true of how they currently feel about redefining marriage.”
Wolfson said the support for same-sex marriage among young people shows the battle can be won, but at the same time “doesn’t make the battle self-winning.”
“We have to mobilize those young people; we have to engage them,” he said. “There is no marriage without engagement, and there is no way to secure social justice without doing the work.”
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
Federal Government
Republican state AGs challenge Biden administration’s revised Title IX policies
New rules protect LGBTQ students from discrimination
Four Republicans state attorneys general have sued the Biden-Harris administration over the U.S. Department of Education’s new Title IX policies that were finalized April 19 and carry anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students in public schools.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday, which is led by the attorneys general of Kentucky and Tennessee, follows a pair of legal challenges from nine Republican states on Monday — all contesting the administration’s interpretation that sex-based discrimination under the statute also covers that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The administration also rolled back Trump-era rules governing how schools must respond to allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, which were widely perceived as biased in favor of the interests of those who are accused.
“The U.S. Department of Education has no authority to let boys into girls’ locker rooms,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. “In the decades since its adoption, Title IX has been universally understood to protect the privacy and safety of women in private spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms.”
“Florida is suing the Biden administration over its unlawful Title IX changes,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on social media. “Biden is abusing his constitutional authority to push an ideological agenda that harms women and girls and conflicts with the truth.”
After announcing the finalization of the department’s new rules, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters, “These regulations make it crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights.”
The new rule does not provide guidance on whether schools must allow transgender students to play on sports teams corresponding with their gender identity to comply with Title IX, a question that is addressed in a separate rule proposed by the agency in April.
LGBTQ and civil rights advocacy groups praised the changes. Lambda Legal issued a statement arguing the new rule “protects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination and other abuse,” adding that it “appropriately underscores that Title IX’s civil rights protections clearly cover LGBTQ+ students, as well as survivors and pregnant and parenting students across race and gender identity.”
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Blade Summer Kickoff Party returns to Rehoboth
Andy Cohen coming to D.C.
Want to dance for a good cause?
Calendar: May 3-9
HHS reverses Trump-era anti-LGBTQ rule
4th Circuit rules gender identity is a protected characteristic
Pride season has begun
PHOTOS: Capital Pride Pageant
