SHOULD SAME-SEX MARRIAGES BE PERMITTED IN PENNSYLVANIA?

Some say it depends on who you are.

The issue has been addressed: How conservative is Harrisburg? In a lot of ways, that question raises an even bigger question, which is, how conservative is the state? Because we live under the shadow of the capital dome, the obvious political questions arise … are same-sex marriages permitted? Why or why not? What is the history of this controversial topic, and how do the laws of Pennsylvania compare to those in the books of the other 49 states across the country?

In all 50 states today, same-sex couples are denied the freedom to marry — merely because it was a topic that was seldom officially or legally addressed. Times have changed, however. In 1993, a Hawaii state court ruled that denying same-sex couples a marriage license was unconstitutional under that state’s Equal Rights Amendment. The decision is under appeal and, while a final decision has yet to be reached in that case, the impact of the Hawaii court’s ruling is being felt nationwide. Since its decision, many groups and organizations have been pushing states to pass laws that would ban same-sex marriages … and the states have listened. If the Hawaii court decision is upheld, however, those states will have to reconsider their actions. But until then, the battle continues.

By May of last year, more than half of the states in the Union, twenty-nine to be exact, had enacted some type of same-sex marriage ban. States as far from Pennsylvania as Alaska and as near as Ohio have been battling the issue of same-sex marriages for years. It wasn’t too long ago that Pennsylvania entered the mix. After remaining dormant for a period, Representative Allan Egolf reintroduced the same-sex amendment during a hearing on adoption issues. After deciding to add the amendment in the House (177-16), the issue was sent to the Senate for a concurrence vote, where the officials agreed with the House (43-5) and sent the amendment to be signed into law by Governor Ridge. On October 1, 1996, the Keystone State enacted House Bill 2604, a legislative decision that amended Title 23 (Domestic Relations), the law that defines “marriages,” by adding provisions that referred directly to the same-sex marriage issue. The amended law defines marriage as, simply, “A civil contract by which one man and one woman take each other for husband and wife.” Further, Section 1704 of that statute currently reads, “A marriage between persons of the same sex … shall be void in this Commonwealth.”

How have the lesbian and gay communities reacted? By battling their opponents with efforts of their own. While Pennsylvania has already made its decision concerning the issue, the fight for marriage rights continues across the nation. All over the country, gay and lesbian activists have formed strong, grass-roots organizations such as Freedom to Marry, a “nationwide coalition committed to winning and keeping the freedom to marry for same-gender couples.”

While it is obvious that not every gay or lesbian couple wants to marry, it is just as obvious that the members of those communities feel victimized by the legislative decisions that have been made on their behalf. The passing of the “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA), a law that marked the federal government’s venture into marriage for the first time, has added to the backlash. Known collectively as the “federal anti-marriage law,” the law denies “federal recognition, protection, and benefits” of same-sex marriages and, further, gives states what is seen as the power to deny recognition of same-sex marriages that may some day be performed in states where the action is ruled legal. This is where organizations such as Freedom to Marry enter the equation.

Supporters of Freedom to Marry and its local coalitions have fought the Federal law on the grounds that it violates the “Full Faith and Credit Clause” of the United States Constitution — the clause that binds states to honor other states’ contracts and judicial proceedings. Under the current laws, even if Hawaii were to allow same-sex marriages, people legally married in that state would not be considered legally married by the federal government or the states that have already enacted such laws.