The proponents of proposition 8 have been citing Massachusetts as a case example of how things “go wrong” with same sex marriage. I heard a story this week of a couple, trying to get married in Boston and the obstacles they encountered. A couple, who were graduate students at Smith College in the schools of social work wanted to get married. They applied for a license, and since it was recently made clear that they could legally marry, they set out to find an officient. They called church after church, recruited friends to call too, and after explaining the situation, they were turned down time after time. No one would perform the ceremony. Finally a Unitarian Universalist agreed and performed the wedding. Now the story may not seem too remarkable, except to show that California ministers aren’t any more obliged to marry folks than they were before. Many ministers will only marry a couple who are members of the church, have gone through training in the church or agree to conditions like raising children within the faith. No requirement to marry anyone who comes in the door.
The difference is in the details. The story happened in 1965. The couple were a man and a woman, but he was African American and she was white. Sounds ridiculous now. In forty years, the whole furor over same sex marriage is going to seem just as stupid. We don’t force acceptance of, teach school children, deny tax exempt status or any of the other “Yes on Prop 8” fantasy claims around inter- racial marriage do we? It won’t happen with same sex marriage either.