How 20 Years of Same-Sex Marriage Changed America - Molly Ball, WSJ

[question everything]

Twenty years ago this week, David Wilson and Rob Compton entered into a marriage that some believed would bring on the apocalypse. These days, they are happily retired and spend their time volunteering and visiting with their grandchildren.

When America’s first state-sanctioned same-sex marriages took place in Massachusetts on May 17, 2004, Wilson and Compton’s among them, a furious political controversy swirled. “The House and Senate, the governor, the president, the pope, the Black church I grew up in—everyone was against us, and it was very unnerving,” Wilson, 80, recalled in a recent interview.

Opponents warned that the consequences would be dire. Then-Gov. Mitt Romney compared the court ruling that enabled it to the 1857 Dred Scott case that denied citizenship to Black people. Both presidential candidates, Democrat John Kerry and Republican President George W. Bush, came out against it. Catholic bishops called it “a national tragedy.” Sure to follow, they warned, was the ruination of the institution of marriage, the American family and potentially society itself.

Two decades later, what was once the white-hot center of political debate has receded to the background. Polls show nearly three-quarters of Americans, including 49% of Republicans and a majority of regular churchgoers, support it. The Supreme Court made same-sex marriage a nationwide right in 2015, and Congress gave federal recognition to the practice on a broad bipartisan vote in 2022. One of the votes in favor: Sen. Mitt Romney, who said the Respect for Marriage Act “signals that Congress—and I—esteem and love all of our fellow Americans equally.”

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The tide began to turn in 2012. That year, President Obama—following the lead of then-Vice President Joe Biden—announced he had “evolved” from his previous opposition, and four states—Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington—took the side of same-sex marriage in ballot referendums for the first time. The victories were partly because of a crucial change in messaging. While earlier same-sex marriage campaigns had emphasized a dry, legalistic argument about the civil rights and benefits that marriage confers, in 2012 activists pivoted to accentuating love, commitment and universal family values. This change appealed to people’s emotions and helped campaigners reach religious people and conservatives.

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https://archive.ph/8CiY7

with many photos of happy couples

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