2011 is for LGBTQ victory

2010 was a big year for gay marriage and not just because Prop 8 was overturned in a federal court.

While that was an important step toward marriage equality, it was just one of many on the list.

Gay marriage was legalized in Washington, D.C., which joined five states in allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Politicians running on pro-gay marriage platforms were elected across the country.
Illinois legalized civil unions and, with the backing of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, could be on the way to legalizing gay marriage.

It certainly isn’t the outright national legalization, but the United States is still at the baby steps stage, and every victory counts.

Despite the triumph of many conservative Republicans in the last election, the fight for gay marriage will keep going strong — and will continue to win victories.

New York, Rhode Island, Minnesota and Maryland all elected pro-marriage governors in 2010, and the organization Freedom to Marry plans to push for legalized gay marriage in all four states in 2011.

It doesn’t look like the gay marriage momentum has slowed — if anything, the 2010 victories have led to an increase in determination and fervor.

According to an Associated Press poll, more than half of Americans support “legal recognition of same-sex couples’ marriages.” 

And the Freedom to Marry press releases are stuffed with gleeful stories of governors and attorneys general who are openly in support of passing legislation, and of candidates who made anti-gay marriage comments and lost.

Does this mean that 2011 will be the year we’ll see an end to the discrimination and be the 13th country to legalize gay marriage?  No.

Chances are, any sort of national legislation (or even all of the states passing individual legislation) won’t happen this year.

Rarely-goes-blue Indiana probably won’t pass anything; it and many other states will likely only recognize same-sex marriage when the Federal government passes a bill.
But that doesn’t mean seeing even four states legalize gay marriage won’t be a huge step in the fight for equality.

Adding New York, Rhode Island, Maryland and Minnesota to the list will almost double the number and be a rapid increase in comparison to previous years.

After all, Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, passed the law in 2004, and in the last six years, only four other states have followed.

As times change and societal norms shift to allow more and more personal freedoms, states will have a better chance of equalizing marriage, and the growth will likely continue exponentially for a time — especially since Prop 8, which overturned the gay marriage legalization in California, was struck down as being unconstitutional.

Each small step is a large victory on the road for marriage equality for people — both across the country and across the globe.

As civil unions, and then same-sex marriages, spread like wildfire, more people will find the equality they deserve and hopefully in a more tolerant and accepting world.

E-mail: hanns@indiana.edu