Marriage Equality & Religion: The Massachusetts Experience

One of the most dominant myths used by forces opposed to marriage equality is that allowing same-sex couples to marry would somehow negatively affect religious institutions or apply restrictions to their freedom to worship as they choose. Although this myth is patently false, that has not stopped some opponents from using the claim to lead people to believe their religious freedom is in danger.

Fortunately, in New York, we do not need to speculate on how religious institutions, spiritual life and the freedom to worship will be affected if the state passes a law allowing same-sex couples to marry. New York needs only to look to our neighbor to the east, Massachusetts — where marriages for same-sex couples have been legal since 2004 — to see that the worries about such a law negatively impacting people of faith have been unfounded.

The video below features three Massachusetts clergy members speaking firsthand on how marriage equality for same-sex couples has not negatively affected their congregations.

Massachusetts Senate votes to allow out-of-state gay couples to marry

Yesterday, the Massachusetts State Senate voted to repeal a 1913 law that effectively prevents out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts. The dormant marriage law was originally intended to prevent interracial couples from crossing state lines to marry, thereby easing Mass.'s relationship with other states that banned interracial marriages at the time. In 2004, the ban was invigorated by then-Gov. Mitt Romney to prevent out-of-state gay couples from obtaining marriage licenses, and has since come under scrutiny by lawmakers who see the residency law as a shameful reminder of the past and out-of-touch with the Commonwealth's regard for LGBT equality.

A clear conscience isn't the only benefit driving Mass. public officials to strike down the ban, however. Early analysis from the State economic departments show repealing the law could cause a significant spike in tourism--especially from New York residents--boosting Mass.’s economy by $111 million, adding 330 jobs to the workforce, and creating $5 million in tax revenues in three-year's time. The New York Times quoted Pride Agenda E.D. Alan Van Capelle on the likelihood of gay New Yorkers choosing Massachusetts over California as a marriage destination; he foresees "A lot of Jet Blue cancellations from LaGuardia to Laguna and some Amtrak purchases from New York to Boston," adding, "Tanglewood, the Red Lion Inn, how do you say no?" Mass. Sen. Diane Wilkerson, who sponsored the repeal bill, called the economic pluses a perk to ending the discriminatory law.

Indeed, it is great that gay and lesbian New Yorkers will soon be able to drive across the border, get married, and return home with many of the state rights and responsibilities afforded to married couples. And with the stated support of the State Assembly, the Governor and a majority of New Yorkers, we especially look forward to the day when the State Senate acts to end discrimination in the Empire State by allowing us to marry those we love here at home.

Victory in Massachusetts

***Update: Gay City News Editor In Chief Paul Schindler reports on the vote.

From the Associated Press:

Massachusetts lawmakers voted Thursday to block a proposed constitutional amendment that would have let voters decide whether to ban gay marriage in the only state that currently allows it.

The narrow vote was a victory for gay marriage advocates and a devastating blow to efforts to reverse the historic 2003 state court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage.

The proposal needed 50 votes to advance to the 2008 ballot. It got 45, with 151 lawmakers opposed.

Opponents of gay marriage vowed to press on, but Thursday's defeat after more than three years of sometimes wrenching debate could prove insurmountable. Any effort to mount a new ballot question would take years at a time political support in Massachusetts is swinging firmly behind gay marriage.

For gay couples, the vote marked what could be the end of a struggle that began in 2001, when seven same-sex couples, denied marriage licenses, sued in Suffolk Superior Court.

More than 8,500 same sex couples have married in Massachusetts since it became legal in May 2004.