SAN FRANCISCO – When in 1952 Estelle Lau and Mason Gaffney They moved to Columbia, Missouri, after getting married at the International House at the University of California, Berkeley, only to discover that their marriage was illegal. The agent who was selling their house let them know, explaining that any neighbor, if they didn't like them, could sue them. Their crime was to have different racial origins: they were both American citizens but Estelle was born in Hawaii to Chinese parents while Mason was a white man of Anglo-Saxon origin who had obtained a position as an economics professor at the local university. Their marriage had been possible only because the California Supreme Court had struck down the ban on interracial unions in 1948. arguing that citizens should have "the freedom to marry the person of their choice." For a long time, San Francisco was allowed to do what many states had prohibited until 1967, the era of the civil rights movement.
Today almost no one remembers it, but sixty years later It was the California Supreme Court that used the same words again when on May 15 it overturned the law that established that marriages are only possible between a man and a woman banning those between people of the same sex.
The one who asked for the intervention of the judges was Stuart, Estelle and Mason's son, one of the first gay men to marry in San Francisco. And Stuart keeps in his office at the University of California's AIDS Research Institute a black-and-white photo of his mother in a wedding dress, holding a bouquet and a flower in her hair: "The Court's decision refers precisely to the 1948 precedent. Once again, my family's fate is tied to the judges' decisions. Once again, it reiterates that the right to marry is meaningless if you can't marry the one you love.".
Talking to Stuart and her new husband, John Lewis, a fifty-year-old lawyer, everything seems simple and straightforward, but their story could decide the outcome of the next American elections. On November 4, California citizens will have to indicate not only the president but also whether they are for or against same-sex marriage.. A series of pro-family groups, backed by Republicans, have introduced a referendum (called Proposition 8) calling for eliminating the right to marry for same-sex couples. Bush's party hopes to exploit the conservative mobilization to win not only the referendum but also the state, and whoever wins California has won the election. John McCain knows this and has supported the referendum, while Barack Obama is against it and proposes to leave the freedom established by the Court intact..
Already in 2004 the mobilization on values was decisive for George Bush's victoryHis electoral strategist Karl Rove managed to get a series of referendums on gay marriage, abortion, and stem cell research put to the vote in many swing states between the two parties, bringing evangelicals and the religious right to the polls en masse and boosting the Republican lead. "I don't think it will work again," John argues, "because in these four years the climate in the country has changed, people are tired of crusades and divisions, and because they've seen that the Weddings celebrated in San Francisco were not scandalous at all but were a moment of joy and happiness. Not only for couples but also for their families and friends. And respecting another person's choices and dignity is also a value, and many have understood this.".
Polls currently seem to be proving him right: 51 percent of voters say they are against the referendum and 42 percent are in favor, and Governor Schwarzenegger has said he respects the court's decision and congratulated the couples who have gotten married.
The Macy's department store poster, which advertises its wedding registry and congratulates new couples, also suggests that the climate is different. Of course, voter opinion changes quickly, and Stuart and John are not at ease: "If there had been a referendum in 1948," Stuart says, "then I wouldn't be here because my parents couldn't get married: according to a Gallup poll, only 4 percent of Americans were in favor of a marriage between a white person and a black person or a Chinese person." And John admits his anxieties: ""I look at people on the street and think that each of them will have to decide about my private life. and I wonder if they will take away our right that
we have conquered".
Also because if the yes vote wins in the referendum it would be the second time that their wedding has been annulled: On February 12, 2004, Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to allow weddings: "The announcement – John says – came at the end of an equal opportunities demonstration, I was there and I called Stuart on his cell phone and shouted: 'Run here immediately, we have the chance we've been waiting for all our lives'.".
They had been living together for 17 years and that day they were among the first ten to get married. Stuart was wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt, John a pair of sweatpants and a purple T-shirt. There were no relatives or friends present: "But for the first time in our lives we felt considered as citizens with full rights.". After them, another 4000 unions were celebrated in a month, then the Supreme Court blocked everything saying that the mayor did not have the authority. and six months later all marriages were annulled: "We felt pushed back, we were once again second-class citizens without the right to marry who we loved.".
They decided to to sue along with 14 other couples And in May they won their battle: this time, at the ceremony on June 17th, relatives and friends were present, and the photos show them dressed in tuxedos and identical electric blue bow ties. Then there was the reception at a Turkish restaurant, with baklava as the wedding cake and old school friends filling the car with shaving cream. But no honeymoon; out of superstition, they prefer to stay in San Francisco until the vote and work to derail the referendum: "It would be terrible to come back from the trip and see that everything has been canceled again, but if we win, then we can finally leave. We'll go to Kauai, the Garden Isle."
of Hawaii".
""Whatever happens," Stuart concludes, "I think we'll live to see the day when people everywhere are allowed to marry who they love, like my parents did.".
Those who cannot afford the luxury of waiting are Del Martin and Phillis Lyon, two women aged 87 and 84, They have been living together since the early 1950s and founded America's first lesbian organization. They have also been married twice and hope this is the right one: "It would be the icing on the cake of a lifetime and would tell us how far we've come.".
