Gay couples who brought the landmark lawsuit that
led to the first legalized gay marriages in the
United States pose for a photo during a reunion in
Newton Mass, Sunday, May, 17, 2009, celebrate their
fifth anniversaries, five years after Massachusetts
became the first state to legalize gay marriage.
(AP)
Gay couples who brought the landmark lawsuit
leading to the first legalized gay marriages in the
United States posed for a photo during a reunion in
Newton, Mass., on Sunday, May, 17, 2009. They
celebrated their fifth anniversaries, five years
after Massachusetts became the first state to
legalize gay marriage. (AP)
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Gay marriage hit a wall in California yesterday.
The state’s high court upheld a ban on same-sex
marriage ushered in last year by California voters.
But around the country, that wall has been
falling. Five years after it first gained a
foothold, gay marriage is now legal in
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa. Maine and
Vermont will join that group in September. New
Hampshire may be right behind.
Opponents are still fighting hard. But thousands
of gay marriages are becoming their own reality.
This hour, On Point: A new study looks at what gay
marriage means for the people in it.
You can join the conversation. Tell us what you
think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on
Facebook.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:
Joining us from Washington, D.C., is Lee Badgett,
research director for the Williams Institute at the
University of California at Los Angeles, which
focuses on law and public policy around sexual
orientation, and senior author of its new study “The
Effects of Marriage Equality in Massachusetts: A
survey of the experiences and impact of marriage on
same-sex couples.” She is also director of the
Center for Public Policy and Administration at the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Also from Washington we’re joined by Nancy
Polikoff, professor of law at American University in
Washington and author of “Beyond (Straight and Gay)
Marriage: Valuing All Families Under the Law.” She
blogs at
www.beyondstraightandgaymarriage.blogspot.com.
From Fluvanna County, Va., we’re joined by Sam
Schulman, formerly publishing director of The
American, a journal published by the American
Enterprise Institute. His new article in The Weekly
Standard is “The Worst Thing About Gay Marriage.”
