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Finding aid of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Collection of Media Reports on Same-sex Marriage, 2004 General
Election
Coll2008-055
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Table of contents
Title: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force collection of
Media Reports on Same-sex Marriage, 2004 General Election
Dates: September-November, 2004
Collection number: Coll2008-055
Creator:
National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force (U.S.)
Collection Size: 2 boxes. 2
linear feet.
Repository:
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.
Los Angeles, California 90007
Abstract: Newspaper clippings and printouts of articles on
posted to newspaper and other media websites ("WebClips") documenting the
political battle over constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage put
before voters in 11 states (Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi,
Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah) in the general election
of November 2, 2004.
Languages: Languages
represented in the collection: English
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access
restrictions.
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in
writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner.
Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in
the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant
copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for
all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force collection of Media Reports on
Same-sex Marriage, 2004 General Election, Coll2008-055, ONE National Gay and
Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Gift of the Sheri Lunn, former Communications Director, National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force, September 2008.
Collection processed by Lilly Insalata,
October 18, 2008.
Processing this collection has been funded
by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.
The GLBT community has challenged the legal restriction of marriage to
opposite-sex partners since at least 1970, when the Reverend Troy Perry,
founder of the predominantly GLBT Metropolitan Community Church, presided over
a ceremony between two women, issuing a church marriage certificate that would
have exempted the couple from obtaining a marriage license had they been a man
and a woman. Other efforts to circumvent the legal restriction were
subsequently undertaken in Minnesota (1971), Kentucky (1973), Boulder, Colorado
(1975), Washington, DC (1990), and Ithaca, New York (1995).
GLBT efforts to obtain legal recognition of same-sex marriage increased
in the decade between 1995 and 2004. In 1996, the Supreme Court of Hawaii's
consideration of a measure that would have legalized same-sex marriage in that
state created considerable controversy. In response, anti-gay sentiment in the
US Congress led to the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which
gives states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages enacted in
other states and denies federal benefits to same-sex marital partners. The
measure passed even though same-sex marriage had not yet been made legal
anywhere in the US, and despite the fact that it appeared to pose a conflict
with the Constitution's provision for full faith and credit.
Despite the passage of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the GLBT
community's efforts continued, meeting with increasing success:
- In 2000, following a class-action suit begun in 1997, the state of Vermont instituted a form of "civil union", whereby same-sex couples registered as domestic partners gain access to some 300 state benefits and privileges in the areas of inheritance, property transfers, medical decisions, workers' compensation, insurance, and state taxes previously available only to heterosexual married couples.
- On June 26, 2003, the US Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas struck down consensual sodomy laws across the nation. Legal scholars interpreted this decision as providing a foundation for the legalization of same-sex marriage, since without sodomy laws a primary justification for the denial of other civil entitlements (including marriage) could no longer be invoked.
- On September 19, 2003, governor Gray Davis signed into law the California Domestic Partners Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003 (effective January 1, 2005), extending to domestic partnerships virtually all the legal rights and responsibilities of marriage in California.
- On November 13, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional; town clerks began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on May 17, 2004.
- Between February 14 and March 11, 2004 (when forced to cease by court order), the County of San Francisco issued marriage licenses to over 4,000 same-sex couples.
- Between March 3 and April 20, 2004 (when forced to cease by court order), Multnomah County, Oregon, issued marriage licenses to 3,022 same-sex couples.
Religious and social conservatives were alarmed by these developments,
which they saw as a "capitulation" to the "homosexual agenda" and a threat to
"order and morality". In response, they succeeded in having constitutional
amendments banning same-sex marriage placed on ballots in 13 states-Louisiana,
Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North
Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah-in the general election year of 2004
(Louisiana and Missouri voted on the amendments in the spring; the remaining
states voted on them on November 2). Despite the efforts of the GLBT community
against the amendments, in particular in Oregon (where the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force contributed more than $900,000 in cash and kind, and the
Human Rights Campaign spent another $514,000), the amendments passed easily in
all 13 states. The issue of "family values" energized evangelical Christians
and the political right, and many political analysts believe that these voters
tilted the vote in hotly contested Ohio to George W. Bush, ensuring him a
second term.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of newspaper clippings and printouts of
articles posted to newspaper and other media websites ("WebClips") documenting
GLBT-related issues in the last quarter of 2004, in particular the political
battle over constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage put before
voters in 11 states (Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi,
Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah) in the general election
of November 2 (Louisiana and Missouri voted on, and passed, similar amendments
earlier in the year). The newspaper clippings relate almost exclusively to the
issue of same-sex marriage and the role the NGLTF played in the political
battle. The webclips, taken from a wide variety of websites (including
newspapers, television and radio stations, and organizations), cover a broader
range of other GLBT issues, many of them local, in which the also NGLTF played
a role.
The materials are arranged by format (newspaper clippings and webclips),
then chronologically by the date of publication.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Homosexuality--Law and legislation--United
States
Homosexuality--Political aspects--United
States
Homosexuality--Social aspects--United
States
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(U.S.)
Same-sex marriage--United States