Acclamation and condemnation greeted Friday’s historic decision legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
Those who pushed successfully to make it the law in Washington in 2012 called it a momentous day and reveled in this state’s role in leading the way.
“It is the beginning of understanding that whomever you love is whomever you love and it doesn’t matter what state you live in,” said Grethe Cammermeyer of Whidbey Island, the retired Army colonel who became a national figure in the fight to abolish the federal law barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
Cammermeyer, who married her partner three years ago, said she hung up the American flag after the decision came out.
“We are united now as one nation,” she said. “There really is freedom and justice for all.”
But those on the losing end of the 2012 election said the ruling undermined democracy, and they insisted the fight will continue in different venues.
“It’s a significant setback for Americans who believe in the rule of law and democratic process,” said Joseph Backholm, executive director of Lynnwood-based Family Policy Institute of Washington. “Like the Roe v. Wade decision did not end the debate on abortion, this is definitely not going to end the debate over marriage.”
Before Friday’s ruling, Washington was one of the many states where same-sex couples could legally marry.
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Washington’s same-sex marriage law in February 2012. Days later a coalition of faith groups formed Preserve Marriage Washington and launched an effort to repeal the law with Referendum 74.
The attempt failed when voters upheld the law in November. That same night voters supported gay marriage laws in Maine and Maryland.
“I think that was a watershed moment. Voters voted for marriage equality and sent a strong message to the court and society,” said Sen. Marko Liias, D-Lynnwood, who is gay and worked tirelessly for passage of the ballot measure. “I’m proud Washington played such an important role in helping turn around the country’s understanding of this issue.”
Reaction Friday generally reflected the fault line penned in the court’s multiple opinions.
“We’ve been anticipating this for a long time. I didn’t see how they could come down any other way,” said Tom Blossom of Monroe, who just finished 16 years as president of Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays.
To him, the debate on marriage is over.
“I just think they are on the wrong side of history,” he said. “How do you take away rights that are granted.”
John West of Edmonds said he was “very disappointed” by the outcome.
“I felt they did not interpret the Constitution. I think they were writing law,” he said. “It doesn’t shake my faith in the Lord I worship. It continues to disappoint me the decisions that are rendered by governmental leaders.”
Anne Levinson, a Seattle attorney who advised the campaign that pushed to legalize same-sex marriage, described Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion as a “strong ruling because of the clarity throughout that constitutional protections must apply equally to all Americans, and because of the thoughtful way the court explained how being excluded from those constitutional guarantees has harmed so many of lives for so long.”
Levinson took issue with the contentions of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia that states, and their voters, should retain the power to define marriage.
“Had they in their lifetimes ever been denied the right to marry, the right to vote or any other rights guaranteed others by our Constitution, they would not blithely opine that rights need not be afforded until each state legislature or populace votes to do so,” Levinson wrote in an email. “Nor would they be willing to risk those rights being taken away at any time by popular vote or legislative whim.”
But opponents of gay marriage embraced the dissents. They said Friday’s ruling leaves many millions of Americans upset that the court robbed them of an opportunity to decide the law for their state.
“The Supreme Court choked off that debate and told the American people that your opinion doesn’t matter,” Backholm said.
Larry Stickney, a former Arlington resident and longtime voice of the anti-gay marriage movement, said the ruling was the work of a “rogue court.”
“It is a sad day for America,” said Stickney, who now lives near Colville in eastern Washington. “But it absolutely does not end the debate.”
Backholm said the cultural conversation and legal scuffling will continue as people and businesses run by those who don’t believe in gay marriage are forced to conform to avoid lawsuits.
“People of faith should be able to live out their beliefs in the public square without being silenced to the four walls of their homes and churches,” he said. “This decision poses a tremendous threat to religious liberties and will have future ramifications on schools, churches, nonprofits, and private businesses.”
Not every religious leader who opposes same-sex marriage expressed frustration Friday.
“To me the sky is not falling, the world is not ending,” said Russell Johnson of Everett, the 29-year-old pastor of a new Snohomish church named The PursuitNW. “That’s because at the end of the day we’re not held accountable to the Supreme Court. We are held accountable to the Supreme Being.
“Do we support same-sex marriage? No. Do we support same-sex people? Yes,” he said. “We support them in their journey by loving them into a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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