July 25, 2011
Most States Likely to Spurn Marriage Equality Bandwagon
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
As hundreds of gay couples became newlyweds in New York over the weekend, their well-wishers included many far-flung gays aware that their own states may never willingly allow same-sex marriage.
In all, 30 states have adopted constitutional amendments aimed at limiting marriage to one-man, one-woman unions.
In a few of them - California and Oregon, for example - activists hold out hope of repealing the bans. That outcome seems improbable, though, in many heartland and Southern states, and gay-rights leaders there are eying more modest short-term goals.
They'll soon get a boost from a leading national gay-rights group, the Human Rights Campaign. It plans to launch a bus tour, starting Aug. 12 in Utah and ending Oct. 30 in Florida, which will travel through 11 states that ban gay marriage.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
