Fall 2005: Could be worse. Could be raining.

California

In September, the California legislature takes a step forward. It passes a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry, becoming the first legislative body in the US to do so.

The bill is vetoed by Republican Governor Schwarzenegger. In a bizarre reversal of the usual party rhetoric, he says the matter mustn’t be decided by the peoples’ elected representatives but must instead be decided by the courts. His spokesperson says the governor believes the state “cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote.” Yet for some reason he evidently has no problem with a system where the people vote and the Court does the derailing.

Texas

In November, Texas adopts a constitutional amendment, becoming the 19th state to do so.

New York

In December, the appeals court in New York reverses the lower court decision in Hernandez v. Robles. In a 4-to-1 ruling, the court rules against the right of same-sex couples to marry, writing,

The definition of marriage… expresses an important, long-recognized public policy supporting, among other things, procreation, child welfare and social stability. … Marriage, defined as the union between one man and one woman, is based upon important public policy considerations and has been recognized as a fundamental constitutional right (Zablocki v Redhail, 434 US 374, 383 [1978]; Skinner v Oklahoma ex rel. Williamson, 316 US 535, 541 [1942]; see also Washington v Glucksberg, 521 US 702, 720 [1997]; Griswold v Connecticut, 381 US 479, 486 [1965]). These considerations are based on innate, complementary, procreative roles, a function of biology, not mere legal rights. …

The legislative policy rationale is that society and government have a strong interest in fostering heterosexual marriage as the social institution that best forges a linkage between sex, procreation and child rearing. It systematically regulates heterosexual behavior, brings order to the resulting procreation and ensures a stable family structure for the rearing, education and socialization of children … The law assumes that a marriage will produce children and affords benefits based on that assumption. It sets up heterosexual marriage as the cultural, social and legal ideal in an effort to discourage unmarried childbearing and to encourage sufficient marital childbearing to sustain the population and society; the entire society, even those who do not marry, depend on a healthy marriage culture for this latter, critical, but presently undervalued, benefit.

Iowa

But on the bright side, Lambda Legal and six same-sex couples file suit seeking the right to marry in Iowa’s Varnum v. Brien.

Timeline key: progress (green), no progress (red), pending court cases (purple),
events that are neutral, not directly related, or with both positive and negative effects (black)