Pew Research: Love Won. Now We Have to Protect It.

Twenty-five years ago this week, the Netherlands made history. On April 1, 2001, the first legally recognized same-sex marriages in the world were performed — and the world did not end. Love, as it turned out, was not a threat to civilization. It was, and remains, one of the most ordinary and extraordinary things human beings do.

In the quarter-century since, nearly 40 countries have followed the Netherlands' lead. Belgium came next in 2003. Then Canada and Spain in 2005. In 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right — a decision that changed millions of lives overnight, including in communities across this country where LGBTQ+ people had waited, some of them, their entire adult lives to have their love recognized by law.

That progress is real. And it is fragile. The current administration has made clear — through executive orders, through agency rollbacks, through the appointments it has made and the policies it has pursued — that LGBTQ+ rights are not a priority to be protected but a frontier to be walked back. The rights that feel settled are not always as permanent as they appear. The history of the past 25 years is proof of what is possible when communities organize and votes are cast. It is also a reminder of how quickly the ground can shift.

Twenty-five years is worth celebrating. It is also worth defending. Our vote is our power — and we will use it.

🔗 Read the full Pew Research report here.