The Road to Marriage Equality in the State of Independence

When President George W. Bush visited northeastern Pennsylvania several times in the 2004 presidential campaign, he highlighted his staunch opposition to same-sex marriage. Bush proudly touted that he was the only president in American history to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to prohibit gay marriages. Playing to socially conservative voters of both parties in northeastern Pennsylvania, Bush figured he could capitalize on this issue here, and elsewhere, to stoke enough fears - combined with his emphasis on national security issues - to achieve a narrow win. Bush was reelected but ultimately lost Luzerne County in 2004, succumbing to Kerry by a 49 percent to 51 percent margin in this heavily Democratic yet swingy county that Ronald Reagan won twice. However, it's likely that his margin was closer than in 2000 - both countywide and statewide as Bush lost Pennsylvania in 2004 by less than he lost it four years prior - in part because of his strongly anti-gay marriage stance.

A decade later, this position of opposing equal marriage rights for gay couples is so politically toxic in Pennsylvania, including in northeastern Pa., that our state's GOP governor, Tom Corbett, imperiled in his reelection bid, withdrew his efforts to appeal the recent court decision legalizing same-sex marriage here. This political progress is nothing short of incredible but it is not by mistake. It is the result of hard and determined work on the part of gay rights activists, gay and lesbian couples who fought against a discriminatory law in the federal courts, and public servants willing to stand up for equal rights even when it was politically risky. This collaborated experiment on the part of such individuals in changing public opinion and ultimately changing the law is a reflection of the best of America: people working together at the grassroots level to rally public support to pressure individuals in power to expand equal rights. This phenomenon, as historians and political scientists and social policy experts (most notably Howard Zinn) have pointed out numerous times, is what our history is all about in fact.

Locally, people like John Dawe and Bill Browne worked to gather public support for marriage equality, public officials like Rep. Phyllis Mundy and Congressman Matt Cartwright were the first out of the gate at the state and federal level, respectively, to embrace gay marriage thus further legitimizing it in a sense, and the alliance that all of these individuals provided to the couples fighting the Pennsylvania DOMA in court ultimately helped allow it to fall. As a result of their work, happy couples who have waited years to marry can finally do so -- and a majority of the public, both statewide in PA and here in NEPA according to several public opinion polls, is finally on board as well. Cheers to Judge Jones, the folks who worked so hard to make marriage equality a reality, and to the people of Pennsylvania.