Same-Sex Marriage, Five Years On

46:20

May 27, 2009

Gay couples who brought the landmark lawsuit that led to the first legalized gay marriages in the United States pose for a photo during a reunion in Newton Mass, Sunday, May, 17, 2009, celebrate their fifth anniversaries, five years after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage. (AP) — Gay couples who brought the landmark lawsuit leading to the first legalized gay marriages in the United States posed for a photo during a reunion in Newton, Mass., on Sunday, May, 17, 2009. They celebrated their fifth anniversaries, five years after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage. (AP)

Gay marriage hit a wall in California yesterday. The state’s high court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage ushered in last year by California voters.

But around the country, that wall has been falling. Five years after it first gained a foothold, gay marriage is now legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa. Maine and Vermont will join that group in September. New Hampshire may be right behind.

Opponents are still fighting hard. But thousands of gay marriages are becoming their own reality. This hour, On Point: A new study looks at what gay marriage means for the people in it.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Joining us from Washington, D.C., is Lee Badgett, research director for the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, which focuses on law and public policy around sexual orientation, and senior author of its new study "The Effects of Marriage Equality in Massachusetts: A survey of the experiences and impact of marriage on same-sex couples." She is also director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Also from Washington we're joined by Nancy Polikoff, professor of law at American University in Washington and author of "Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families Under the Law." She blogs at www.beyondstraightandgaymarriage.blogspot.com.
From Fluvanna County, Va., we're joined by Sam Schulman, formerly publishing director of The American, a journal published by the American Enterprise Institute. His new article in The Weekly Standard is "The Worst Thing About Gay Marriage."

This program aired on May 27, 2009.