Well, God bless America!

April 7, 2009 by Pastor Dan.

Because of personal emergencies, I am woefully behind on e-mail, so I was caught off guard for the historic news this morning that Vermont’s legislature has overridden the governor’s veto of the bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Vermont, beginning September 1, will be the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage, but the first to do it through the legislature. This courageous and historic moment rates at the top along with Vermont’s first-in the-union action to create civil unions.

(That honor could have been California’s too, except that our weak-spined Hummer driving photo-op governor vetoed the bill twice and of course left the door open for the opposition which led up to Proposition 8.)

According to 365Gay.com’s newscenter, the bill eked through the override procedure in the state House (100 yes to 49 no) but was an easy deal for the state Senate (23 to 5).

Nonetheless, this 2/3 majority makes it clear that the mood in the Vermont legislature is overwhelmingly positive for same-sex couples, where civil unions have been legal since 2000. (Existing civil unions will continue to be recognized, but new ones no longer will be granted after September 1.)

Governor Douglas attempted to rationalize his veto, in part, by suggesting that the bill does include any rights or benefits not already available in civil unions. Of course, he is trying to “protect” the word marriage from this homosexual onslaught. But as numerous courts have now said, enough times that even a conservative Republican should be able to understand, “separate is not equal.” That’s a sound-byte brief enough that even W could have mastered with a little practice.

But because there have been civil unions for 8 years, could it be that once the public got used to the idea of same-gender couples, it took the edge off the right-wing satanic panic?

Meanwhile, as California hangs on waiting for our Supremes to decide both the fate of Proposition 8 and the estimated 18,000 couples who legally wed before November 4, 2008, the clock of social change continues to tick here also. Californians of all persuasion—including conservatives—will become more accustomed to seeing and knowing same-gender couples who are out, claiming and exercising our legal rights as married people.

The bottom line, for conservatives who want to hold on to their imaginary line of defense, is that as each month passes, there are in truth more married lesbian and gay couples in America. We’re here, we’re married. Get used to it!

And when Proposition 8 is gone (whether by the court’s action or by a reverse ballot initiative in 2010), California would come back on line as the fifth state in the Union for same-sex marriage. (Unless Maine and or New Hampshire join this group in the meantime.) But, five out of fifty states, hmmm. Seems I recall that 10% concept from an earlier stage of our movement. Could it be that God is really blessing these United States anew? Are we beginning to actually see the arc of the universe bending toward justice? Are we beginning to see the “tipping point”?

— Pastor Dan Hooper, Los Angeles

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