Is it any wonder?

By Stacy Svendor

Gay marriage. You may want it, you may not... You may wish that it be legal, but not wish to ever do it yourself. The fight is pretty new. It has only really been discussed and fought for over the past few years...

So far, there is no state, which allows it. Even those states where it seemed like it was a sure thing have now created laws against it. Look at Hawaii. Most of us thought that it was sure thing to get marriage there. The Hawaiian Supreme Court sat on their thumbs until it came to popular vote and BOOM... no marriage.

Should there really be any surprise there, though? This is something that will be slow in coming. Especially if Vermont is any indication. Vermont has the closest thing to marriage for same sex couples as this country has. And already, there are campaigns to get rid of everyone who has ever voted for it.

If you really look at what Vermont has, it is not all that helpful to gays. Sure, you get all of the state benefits that married couples get, but none of the federal. I cannot wait to see how the income tax forms deal with that. The State Department of Revenue will have to allow joint tax returns, the Federal will not. The IRS allows for a deduction for state taxes. How will that work? This is not the only issue at stake, but since I am/used to be a tax accountant, I find the subject fascinating.

Anyway, on to the whole point of this little essay. This year, there is a ballot in Alabama to repeal a law dealing with antimiscegenation. (miscegenation means mixing of "race"s). So basically, voters get so say whether or not it is legal in Alabama to have interracial marriages.

Two years ago, South Carolina struck down their law, even though 40% of voters wished to keep the law. What is most scary though? In a 1967 Supreme Court decision, Loving vs. Virginia, the Supreme Court of the United States declared these laws unconstitutional. Even so, many states still had them on the books. And now, this November, voters in Alabama get to vote on whether or not something that has already been declared an unconstitutional law by the Supreme Court of this nation should continue to be a law.

That may sound a bit confusing. What Alabaman’s are actually doing is voting for an amendment to the 1901 State Constitution that would end the prohibition. Let us think about this for a moment. Not only did they believe that there should not be any interracial marriages, enough so to create a law against it…. But they actually made it part of their constitution.

Worse yet, some local politicians say it may fail if conservative, religious groups mobilize voters.

What does this have to do with us, you might ask? Everything. Is it any wonder that we are still waiting and hoping for some recognition of our relationships? Not only do we not have marriage laws, but also in many states, it is still a felony for us to make love.

I, for one was amazed that there were still laws against interracial marriages on the books. I did some research. The first law against miscegenation was in enacted in Maryland in 1661. The first state law against miscegenation that I can find being repealed was in Massachusetts in 1842. (This may not be the first, but so far it is the best I can find.) Over one hundred years later, in 1948 California began to allow them.

Let us think about that for a moment. If the first state to allow interracial marriages did so over one hundred and fifty years ago, what does that mean for us? Especially when it took over 100 years for California, one of the most progressive states, to allow the same thing? It took thirty more years for the United States Supreme Court to decide it. Even then, some states still kept the laws on the books.

Just a few short years ago, I believed that the United States would be allowing gay marriage within 10 years. Now I wonder. Perhaps a hundred? Two hundred? And when and if we do see gay marriages in this country, will the all of the states follow the edicts set down by the Supreme Court? Or will they keep the laws on the books for thirty or forty more years? What does this say about the Land of the Free? What does this say about us?

Part II The Results

To refresh your memory. Alabama had on their ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish the prohibition of interracial marriages. If you recall, the United States Supreme Court declared this issue unconstitutional in the Loving vs. Virginia case of 1967.

Well, I did not want to leave anyone hanging, so here are the results of the vote. You may or may not be surprised. You may or may not be disgusted. Sadly, I am not surprised, but am still somewhat disgusted.

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Proposed Statewide Amendment Number 2

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to abolish the prohibition of interracial marriages. (Proposed by Act No. 1999-321)

Popular Vote Percentage

Yes 801,904 60%

No 544,134 40%

Well, out of an entire state there are at least 801,904 people who have a clue about what it is to live in the 21st century. The remaining people who voted on this are either idiots, bigots, or too illiterate to read the ballot.

There is much more that I could say about the entire electoral process... especially after the 2000 election, but I will hold my tongue.

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