As an African-American lesbian, the struggle for equal rights has always been personal for me. I was born in Kansas in 1957, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education decision litigated in that state made segregation in public schools illegal nationwide. I then moved to Alabama and attended segregated schools until 1967, a full 13 years after segregation was formally outlawed. Fast-forward to Alabama almost five decades later, and the quest for equal rights continues. Alabama has become the 37th state to allow for same-sex marriages. A federal judge paved the way by ruling that marriage restrictions were unconstitutional. But the Chief …
As an African-American lesbian, the struggle for equal rights has always been personal for me.
I was born in Kansas in 1957, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education decision litigated in that state made segregation in public schools illegal nationwide. I then moved to Alabama and attended segregated schools until 1967, a full 13 years after segregation was formally outlawed.
Fast-forward to Alabama almost five decades later, and the quest for equal rights continues.
Alabama has become the 37th state to allow for same-sex marriages. A federal judge paved the way by ruling that marriage restrictions were unconstitutional.
But the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Roy Moore, has said no, reprising the role of George Wallace from half a century ago. In 1963, the then-governor literally blocked the entrance to the University of Alabama in an infamous attempt to thwart integration. The same year, Wallace intervened to stop integration in schools in Huntsville, Ala. I was in school in Huntsville at the time.
Officials in Alabama are making individual decisions about whether to follow the order of the federal judge or the decree of their chief justice. According to the Human Rights Campaign, 52 out of 67 counties have refused to issue marriage licenses. This is reminiscent of the refusal to allow black folks their rights 50 years ago.
According to the Pew Research Center, 52 percent of folks in the United States are in favor of same-sex marriage. The figure is even higher among millennials, at 67 percent. And the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the federal ruling on Alabama to stay, possibly signaling that in June it will rule that all 50 states must allow for same-sex marriages.
The tide is shifting both in the judiciary and in the court of public opinion. Civil rights based on race took some time beyond court rulings, but was eventually achieved. Civil rights based on sexual orientation will inevitably follow the same path.
Peace, love, compassion, and blessings.
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