Gay Marriage Legalisation in Us States Signals Cultural Shift

A significant cultural shift appears to be under way in the US in favour of same-sex marriages, with two landmark decisions over the past week and eight states poised to vote on bills later this year.

Gay campaigners are celebrating a vote in the Vermont legislature yesterday and an Iowa supreme court ruling last week, bringing to four the number of states where same-sex marriages are legal.

The mood contrasts with the despondency in November when the public in California overturned a brief period in which same-sex marriages were allowed and voted for a definition of marriage as being only between a man and woman.

Evan Wolfson, founder and executive director of the New York-based Freedom to Marry organization, described the events of the last week as wonderful and said the dynamic has been changing, with the public coming to see gay people in a different way.

The presidency of George Bush was marked by social conservatism, often based on the agenda of the Christian right, but the victory of Barack Obama in November has coincided with an apparent rejection of much of that agenda in favor of greater liberalization. "Eight years after the most polarizing politics of Bush-Rove and orchestrated attacks on gay people, I think what happened in 2008 was the American people said they have had enough of divisiveness," Wolfson said.

Up until last week, only two states recognised same-sex marriages: Connecticut and Massachusetts. Many other states accept civil unions but not marriage.

Vermont is important because it is the first legislature to pass such a bill. Legal marriage for gays in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa was the result of court rulings. The Vermont bill cannot be overruled by its governor and the first gay marriages are scheduled for September.

Wolfson said: "Legislatures in several states are considering bills now and we are hoping to see movement in several of them over the next few months."

The next is likely to be New Hampshire, whose house of representatives has voted in favour and the bill has now gone to its senate. In Maine, the state legislature is scheduled to begin committee hearings later this month. In New York and New Jersey, both their governors have promised to sign any bills passed by their legislatures.

Wolfson, who founded his organization in 2003, sees the California ruling as a turning point. "California was a wake-up call. People realized that we had been too complacent."

Other states laying the groundwork for bills in favor of same-sex marriages include Illinois, Washington state, Maryland and Rhode Island.

In another development, the District of Columbia's council voted in favor of recognising same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. It will be subject to another vote later this month before going to the mayor, Aidrian Fenty, who said he will sign it.

The Washington DC vote is subject to a congressional review, which will mean it could go in front of national politicians for a decision.

Organizations opposed to gay marriage held press conferences today predicting that campaigners in favor of same-sex marriage will find it harder in at least 29 US states that would require constitutional amendments to reverse the bans. They also claimed that the decisions in Iowa and Vermont would energize those opposed to same-sex marriages.

According to polls, the number of Americans in favor of same-sex marriages, though still a minority, has grown in the last five years from about 20% to over 30%.

In California, the supreme court is expected to rule in coming months on November's ballot. But gay rights campaigners hold out little hope, on the basis of initial hearings.