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The breakthrough in Massachusetts
In 2004, Massachusetts became the first US state to legalise same-sex marriage.
Legalisation followed Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the unequivocal
State Supreme Court ruling of 2003 that ordered the state legislature to act. This
ruling echoed framings of marriage as combining social and legal understandings:
Marriage is a vital social institution. … The question before us is
whether, consistent with the Massachusetts Constitution, the
Commonwealth may deny the protections, benefits and obligations
conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish
to marry. We conclude that it may not.
(findlaw.com, 2012a (online))
This brief survey of developments in the US begins to highlight a number of themes
in the continuing struggle for marriage equality in California. First, same-sex
marriage and homosexuality are defined in political discourse by competing notions
of morality and equality. Furthermore, the debate on marriage equality in the US
has become highly politicised, with liberals and conservatives, the courts, and state
and federal legislatures all competing for the final say on this matter. Finally,
individual states retain their powers of initiative on marriage equality, even if
recognition does not extend beyond the state border. This suggests a highly volatile
picture, with moralistic debates about marriage equality destined to be constantly
replayed in state after state in response to repeated initiatives to litigate or legislate.
These themes are particularly visible in the tortuous history of same-sex marriage in
California.
Back and forth: legal recognition for same-sex couples in California
California has a relatively long history of recognition for same-sex couples. In 1984,
the city of Berkeley enacted domestic partner ordinances extending benefits to
unmarried partners, including same-sex partners. Nine years later, San Francisco
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