In a dust-up this spring that arose from New York Times reporter and author Jo Becker's book about the federal Proposition 8 case, Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality, critics took the author to task for not including a longer, inclusive history of the struggle for same-sex marriage and the over-lionization of Chad Griffin, who headed up the American Foundation for Equal Rights before being recruited to take over the Human Rights Campaign. Becker, who was embedded with the Prop 8 legal team, had great access �" some might say it was cozy �" to the key players, including the two plaintiff couples, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo of Los Angeles, and Kris Perry and Sandy Stier of Berkeley.
Prop 8, of course, was California's ban on same-sex marriage. Exactly one year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling on a technicality, allowed a lower court ruling to stand that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. That cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume last June 28 and gay and lesbian couples in the Golden State haven't looked back. Marriage has now become "normal" �" couples don't feel the need to rush, as our rights aren't up for a public vote anymore, hence more planning is going into the nuptials as same-sex couples are now bringing their own traditions, tastes, and flair to the storied institution of marriage. (The National Organization for Marriage should take note that heterosexual marriage hasn't changed one iota in the last year as numerous other states also took the plunge and authorized same-sex marriage.)
That's all background for Becker's book, but you don't need to know about the Prop 8 case to enjoy her recounting of a pivotal time in LGBT history. As she has said, she did not set out to write about the history of the marriage equality movement, but there is a fair amount of recent history in Forcing the Spring, a more complete picture of the plaintiff couples and some of the agonizing moments they went through, and even some surprises. For instance, Becker goes into detail about Edie Windsor and her legal case, U.S. v. Windsor (The Supreme Court heard that case at the same time as the Prop 8 case, Perry v. Hollingsworth, and ruled a year ago that DOMA's Section 3 is, in fact, unconstitutional.) In Becker's account, we learn that Windsor, like the Prop 8 plaintiffs, was not represented by stalwarts of the LGBT legal community. Windsor had approached Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund but was rebuffed. She then went to the American Civil Liberties Union, where lesbian attorney Robbie Kaplan took her case. Lambda Legal was also against Griffin's group, the American Foundation for Equal Rights, filing its lawsuit against Prop 8. Becker recounts the tension that existed between the "upstart" AFER and the established LGBT legal groups that had advocated for a state-by-state strategy.
The thing is, the victory in Windsor has enabled exactly that sort of strategy to commence. Prior to the Windsor decision, 12 states and the District of Columbia allowed same-sex couples to marry. One year later, 18 states and D.C. have marriage equality and another 14 states have had courts declare their bans on same-sex couples marrying unconstitutional.
Prior to the Windsor ruling, 18 percent of the U.S. population lived in states with marriage equality. Today, not counting Wisconsin or Pennsylvania (whose bans are still subject to appeal), 39 percent of the population lives in marriage equality states.
Becker's book, along with Redeeming the Dream by Prop 8 lead attorneys Theodore Olson and David Boies, was written with a mainstream audience in mind. And that's the point: people who aren't as familiar with the fight for marriage equality still likely were aware of the Prop 8 case and Becker's book lays out the arguments in an easy-to-understand style. If the LGBT community is going to continue gaining public support for equal rights, including marriage in states that don't yet have it, we're going to need straight allies to join us. Especially given that many of the states where litigation is ongoing are red ones �" LGBT people alone can't turn the tide.
We're still waiting for a historical marriage equality story to be written, but in the meantime, Becker's book does not, as her critics charge, whitewash the long fight for equality. Rather, she traces the story of one lawsuit, with all of its twists and turns, and puts a human face on why so many same-sex couples are fighting for the right to marry. As we celebrate LGBT Pride, which traces its start to gays, drag queens, and transgender people fighting back against a police raid at New York City's Stonewall Inn, remember that the story of our history is still being written.