Alabama is headed for gay marriage showdown

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a Washington, D.C.-based gay rights advocacy group, has just announced the launch of a multi-million dollar campaign for LGBT equality in Southern states, including Alabama.

The new initiative, which HRC has dubbed “Project One America,” will be backed by $8.5 million of the group’s money and will focus on “using chats and front-porch visits between relatives and friends to foster an environment more welcoming toward people of all sexual orientations,” according to the Associated Press.

“In an unprecedented effort to bring equality to Alabama, HRC has just announced Project One America, a comprehensive campaign to dramatically expand LGBT equality in the South through permanent campaigns in Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas,” HRC says on its website. “Project One America is the very first campaign of its kind to work exclusively on LGBT equality in Alabama — where there are no non-discrimination protections for LGBT people at the state or local level in employment, housing or public accommodations, and where the state’s constitution expressly prohibits marriage equality.”

The AP explains further:

The idea is simple, and it’s borne out in polls: People are less likely to oppose expanded rights and acceptance if they know and care for someone who’s gay. Activists hope that’s particularly true in a region that values hospitality.

The Human Rights Campaign… plans to open offices in each state and staff them with 20 people total, primarily residents.

Workers will meet with friends, allies, neighbors, business executives, faith leaders and community groups in an attempt to increase acceptance of LGBT people. The aim is to first change hearts and minds so that people hiding their sexual orientation will be more comfortable about coming out publicly. As that occurs, organizers believe, communities and states will be more likely to adopt laws to prevent discrimination.

News of the HRC’s campaign comes on the heels of gay couples in Alabama filing married tax returns in defiance of state law.

The United States Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional in June of 2013, allowing gay couples to file a joint federal income tax return for the first time this year. But they are still not allowed by law to file jointly here on the state level because Alabama does not recognize same-sex marriage.

That has compelled an unknown number of gay couples to defy state law and file jointly with The Alabama Department of Revenue. Their hope, one assumes, is that the state will come after them for breaking tax law and throw the issue into the courts, where gay rights activists have had the most success.

Only three states have approved a ballot measure allowing same-sex marriage, while many states, including liberal states like California, have rejected it at the ballot box. But judicial decisions in six states have legalized same-sex marriage, and several other court decisions in favor of gay marriage are pending appeal.

“Seventeen states and the District of Columbia currently have laws that allow same-sex marriages,” according to the National Conference of States Legislatures. “In recent developments, federal judges in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia and Texas have ruled their state constitutional bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. The rulings have been put on hold pending appeal.”

Here’s a quick breakdown of how and when states have legalized gay marriage:

6 by Court Decision
California* (June 28, 2013), Connecticut (Nov. 12, 2008), Iowa (Apr. 24, 2009), Massachusetts (May 17, 2004), New Jersey (Oct. 21, 2013), New Mexico (Dec. 19, 2013)

8 by State Legislature
Delaware (July 1, 2013), Hawaii (Dec. 2, 2013), Illinois (law will take effect June 1, 2014), Minnesota (Aug. 1, 2013), New Hampshire (Jan. 1, 2010), New York (July 24, 2011), Rhode Island (Aug. 1, 2013), Vermont (Sep. 1, 2009)

3 by Popular Vote
Maine (Dec. 29, 2012), Maryland (Jan. 1, 2013), Washington (Dec. 9, 2012)

A gay marriage ballot initiative in staunchly conservative Alabama would undoubtedly go down in flames, and there is no chance the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature would consider legalizing gay marriage any time in the foreseeable future. That leaves a federal court decision as LGBT advocates’ only realistic opportunity to bring gay marriage to Alabama.

So while a multi-million dollar gay rights campaign may lead to some elevated tension over the same-sex marriage issue in Alabama, the real showdown will most likely end up in federal court, where the future of marriage in Alabama will rest in the hands of a judge.

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