Second wind for marriage movement

Though the wounds from the passage of California's Proposition 8 are still fresh for LGBT people around the country, advocates in New England are confident that the next few years will bring some landmark wins in the fight for marriage equality. Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), in partnership with MassEquality and other regional marriage equality groups, announced its "6 by 12" campaign last month. The goal of the campaign is to secure equal civil marriage rights for same-sex couples in the four New England states that have yet to grant them: Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

GLAD Executive Director Lee Swislow said that if GLAD and its allies were successful they would show the rest of the country that the marriage equality movement still has momentum.

"I think it has an enormous effect, which is why we announced this initiative when we did, after the defeat in California. We felt like it was important to say the movement for marriage equality is not over, and it is winnable," said Swislow. GLAD and MassEquality have been working with advocates and lawmakers throughout New England, providing advice on strategy and organization in running a successful marriage campaign.

And Vermont makes three?

In the short term advocates believe Vermont could pass marriage equality legislation in the very near future, possibly as soon as next year. Beth Robinson, board chair of Vermont Freedom to Marry, said the organization has spent the past five years laying the groundwork for the next legislative session, which begins in January. State Sen. John Campbell has already announced plans to file an equal marriage bill.

When Vermont passed the first civil union bill in the country in 2000, it prompted a backlash from social conservatives so fierce that many lawmakers are wary about reopening the marriage debate. Robinson said marriage advocates and their legislative allies have spent the past few years making the case that the time has come for full marriage equality.

One major component of making that case was the formation by the legislature in 2007 of the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection. The commission was a response to Campbell's filing of a marriage equality bill that year, and throughout 2007 and 2008 it held town meetings across the state, inviting Vermonters to tell legislators how they felt about either providing full marriage equality or maintaining civil unions. Campbell, a member of the commission, said there was strong support for marriage equality across the state.

"I was quite shocked at the abundance of support for the measure, and equally shocked that there was at most maybe a handful of folks who showed up who were against it, and for the most part they were based on religious reasons," Campbell said. But he characterized opponents as "quite rational" and said over all the discourse was productive. "There were only a few people damning us to Hell," he said.

Campbell said proponents would begin to gauge the strength of the bill depending on how many co-sponsors they could round up. In 2007 the marriage equality bill had 35 House sponsors, out of a body of 150, and 10 Senate sponsors, out of a body of 30. Because of the economic crisis the marriage bill would not be the first item on the legislature's agenda in January, said Campbell, but he's hopeful the Judiciary Committee would take action on it in February.

Campbell said he's "very confident" that the bill would pass in the House and Senate. It's unclear, however, what will happen if the legislature sends a marriage bill to Gov. Jim Douglas (R) for his signature. Douglas told the Associated Press that he opposed the bill and felt civil unions were sufficient protection for same-sex couples and asserted that the legislature should limit its focus next year to economic issues. Yet Douglas also declined to say whether he would veto the bill. Robinson believes if lawmakers pass the marriage bill Douglas would sign it. She said recent polling has found that nearly 60 percent of Vermonters support marriage equality.

"In the face of that and the fact that it's the right thing to do, we think Gov. Douglas will come around," said Robinson.

If lawmakers and advocates decide the marriage bill is viable it could make its way through the legislature by next summer. Vermont has a part-time legislature that meets in two-year sessions, and the legislature generally ends its work for the year by May.

"If a bill is going to move this year, and we hope it will, we're apt to see that in the next six months," said Robinson.

MassEquality Executive Director Marc Solomon said Vermont Freedom to Marry strengthened its relationship with Democratic legislative leadership by helping grow the Democratic majority in its electoral work this past November. He said MassEquality is working with Vermont Freedom to Marry in an advisory capacity and is helping the organization raise funds, and he praised Vermont Freedom to Marry for building a formidable ground organization.

"They have strong support in the legislature. Vermont Freedom to Marry played a key role in helping the Democratic Party re-elect allies in the legislature. What they're doing is figuring out the best way to advance legislation and get it to the governor's desk," said Solomon. "And the governor has said he'd rather not deal with the marriage bill, but we are hopeful he would sign it into law or at least allow it to become law."

Prop. 8 loss looms large in Maine

Swislow and Solomon also believe that Maine is close to winning marriage equality through the legislature, although the passage of Prop. 8 in California has complicated those plans. Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine, explained that much like California, Maine has an aggressive referendum process. Activists in the state spent three decades working to pass a state non-discrimination law, but it was overturned at the ballot by the "people's veto" in 1997; a subsequent law was overturned in 2000. Equality Maine ran a successful campaign to save a third non-discrimination bill from a similar fate in 2005. Smith said they know that if the legislature passes a marriage equality bill there would almost certainly be a referendum to repeal it.

"Having California lose the referendum campaign has affected all of us. It has affected everyone's judgment about how we can win these referendum campaigns, and right now there's a lot of pain and healing going on," said Smith. "We are a referendum state, so if we were to introduce and pass a marriage bill we would most likely go right into a referendum campaign."

Equality Maine and its allies must decide by mid-January, the deadline for filing bills for the coming legislative session, whether to proceed with a marriage equality bill. Equality Maine believes the political landscape is favorable to passing a bill next year. The organization helped elect pro-equality candidates in November and both legislative chambers have marriage equality majorities, said Smith.

"We have a pro-LGBT Senate, we have a pro-LGBT House, and we have a pro-LGBT governor," she said.

Advocates hope that after years of public education they also have a pro-LGBT voting public. Equality Maine has waged an aggressive media campaign over the past couple of years, pitching stories to newspapers on LGBT couples and families to coincide with holidays like Mother's Day, Father's Day and Valentine's Day. The organization did the same thing when the state legalized second-parent adoption in the summer of 2007. Equality Maine has also assembled a team of media response volunteers who write letters to the editor in response to any LGBT-related news stories. Additionally, the organization has sponsored speaking engagements on marriage equality in schools, churches, and other forums throughout the state.

The November elections suggest that Equality Maine's public education efforts are working. Equality Maine recruited volunteers to go to the polls on Election Day and identify 10,000 voters who support marriage equality; by the end of the day they had identified more than 33,000.

"There's been this growing public conversation about same-sex couples and marriage. So I think Equality Maine and GLAD and our partners are looking at, when will be our time to move forward with a legislative initiative?" said Swislow.

Longer roads in N.H., R.I.

The outlook in the two remaining New England states, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, is not as positive in the short-term, but Swislow said GLAD believes both have a good shot at securing marriage equality by 2012. In Rhode Island the biggest stumbling block is Gov. Donald Carcieri (R), who advocates believe would veto any marriage equality legislation. As a result of Rhode Island term limits regulations Carcieri is ineligible to seek another term in 2010, and Solomon said three of the frontrunners for the governor's office -- openly gay Providence Mayor David Cicilline, former congressman Lincoln Chaffee, and state Attorney General Patrick Lynch --- all support marriage equality.

Kathy Kuscnir, executive director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, said the organization would work with legislators to introduce a marriage equality bill for next year's session, as they did in the current session. She said no marriage bill has received a vote either in a legislative committee or in the full House or Senate, but she hopes to push the marriage bill further than in years past.

"We are hoping to get at least a committee vote this session in both the House and the Senate," said Kuscnir.

She said Marriage Equality Rhode Island hopes to build further support for the marriage bill in the legislature so that they can move legislation forward in 2011 in the event the state elects a pro-equality governor.

In New Hampshire, unlike in the other New England states, there is no formal partnership between the local marriage equality organization, New Hampshire Freedom to Marry, and GLAD and MassEquality. State Rep. Maureen "Mo" Baxley (D), who serves as executive director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry, said activists in New Hampshire are focused on grassroots campaigning and have no need for GLAD's assistance.

"Legislative strategy is a better strategy than the lawsuit strategy. We don't have a tremendous amount of case law in New Hampshire. We have 400 legislators, so it makes grassroots more effective," said Baxley. She said New Hampshire Freedom to Marry has partnered with New Hampshire-based organizations, and they have worked closely with the national Freedom to Marry organization. They have also discussed strategy with other members of the Equality Federation, a coalition of state marriage equality organizations, which Baxley called "the best kept secret in the gay community." MassEquality is also a member of the Equality Federation.

Solomon said MassEquality has done little work in New Hampshire, largely because they have not been asked to provide assistance. He said MassEquality only intervenes in states where local advocates ask for their help.

"One of our core values is to work where we're wanted to work, in combination with GLAD ... and I don't think there's been the same need for what we offer in New Hampshire, although I would like to explore that some more," said Solomon.

Swislow said GLAD has worked to provide strategic advice in New Hampshire to pro-equality lawmakers, but said there has been little contact with New Hampshire Freedom to Marry. She declined to say why there has not been closer collaboration between the two organizations.

"We are supportive of their efforts to move forward with marriage equality and have a collegial relationship with them. ... We're certainly in much more contact with the equality organizations in the other states," said Swislow.

Baxley said she believes a marriage equality bill will pass in New Hampshire in the next few years.

"We're looking at realistically 2011. We have two-year sessions here, so we're going to introduce a bill in this session, 2009. We may be able to pass [it], it's not out of the question, but if we don't do it this year then definitely 2011," said Baxley.

Baxley said New Hampshire Freedom to Marry will do public education work both for the general public and state lawmakers. She said many legislators do not understand the difference between civil unions, which the legislature passed last year, and civil marriage, so advocates will be making the case for full marriage equality. The outcome of the marriage campaign will also turn in part on party politics, said Baxley. Advocates will have to convince Republicans that using marriage as a wedge issue will not help the party, and they will need to convince Democrats that pushing for marriage will not threaten the party's control of the legislature.

"The Democrats have had a majority for the second election in the House and Senate, and they need to get over the fear factor that this is an issue that will cause us to lose our majorities," said Baxley.

When MassEquality expanded its mission in 2007 to include working outside of Massachusetts it initially planned to limit its focus to New England, but Solomon said MassEquality would be actively involved next year in legislative efforts to win marriage in New Jersey and New York. Steven Goldstein, executive director of Garden State Equality, reached out to MassEquality after the November elections and proposed working together on political strategy and designing a field program.

"Garden State Equality and MassEquality are right now looking into having a close working relationship in our final push toward marriage equality," said Goldstein. "We in New Jersey think we have an excellent chance to become the first U.S. state to win marriage equality through legislation rather than through court order, and we know MassEquality has won a legislative battle preserving marriage equality."

Goldstein said he is "very optimistic we're going to win marriage equality based on how close we are, and we're very, very close." The state currently has a civil unions law on the books.

Solomon said there is a "strong possibility" New Jersey could pass marriage equality legislation in 2009, and he also said he is "confident" New York will be able to do the same. In New York MassEquality will work with Empire State Pride Agenda to bring supportive Massachusetts clergy to the state to talk about the good that marriage equality has done and to dispel the myths that it poses a threat to religious freedom.

"I think that will show both the challenges, struggles, and ultimately the positives, the triumphs, and also to dispel this really ridiculous notion that churches are somehow forced to perform same-sex marriages or have their tax-exempt status challenged," said Solomon.

Solomon said winning marriage equality in states like Vermont, Maine, New Jersey and New York will have a ripple effect on the campaigns for marriage rights across the rest of the country.

"These are states that do have a diversity of population, without any question, and I think they're also states with very significant numbers of people living in them. It shows we continue to make progress step by step," said Solomon. "These are the way civil rights battles are won."