Marriage: n. The uniting of a man and woman as husband and wife (Webster’s Standard Dictionary 178). Up until the 1970‘s, homosexuals were highly looked down upon and could not come out about their sexual feelings for fear of undergoing abuse socially. Presently, same-sex marriage has caused the unity of two people to become a far more complicated, constitutionally and politically questioned issue than once imagined.
Same-Sex Marriage: A Brief Background
If marriage is defined as the union of a man and a woman, then it becomes severely difficult for a man and another man to marry, or two women. The first state to allow same-sex marriage, Massachusetts, had a large impact on homosexuals in America. Since 2003, a multifold of gay couples have taken the opportunity to legally wed in this unique state (Friedman). Currently, many states are being fought over between supporters and opposers of same-sex marriage; the key states are New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Minnesota, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania (Gallagher). The support and opposal of same-sex marriage has drastically changed in the past decade. Seven or eight years ago American opinion polls display that the people opposed gay marriage by a 2-1 margin (Klarman). Furthermore, another poll taken in April 2005 told differently; according to a CNN/USA Today, Gallup poll, 68% of Americans felt that same-sex marriage should not be recognized as valid; 28% felt they should be valid, and 4% had no opinion. However, current opinion polls have presented that a slender majority of Americans support gay marriage (Klarman). Beside the fact that not everyone supports same-sex marriage, more homosexuals have come out to the people in their lives. “The number of Americans ...
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Throughout the recent history of America, gay marriage has always been an issue. With the different views and morals everyone has on the subject, it makes it hard for individual states to determine what side they should be on. In 1983 a Harvard Law School student, Evan Wolfson, wrote a thesis stating the rule of marriage equality. Justices concluded that gay couples were entitled to the legal benefits of civil marriage; and most crucially in the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts, whose favorable ruling, in a suit by lawyer Mary Bonauto and the Boston-based Gay and Lesbian Advocated and Defenders, led to the nation’s first bona fide same-sex marriages…” (“Gay Marriage turns 10 and Credit Should Be Spread around- The Boston Globe). On May 17, 2004 Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriages. In June of 2013, California legalized gay marriages, which helped their large LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) community. (“History and Timeline of the Freedom…”). When this finally happened, it was seen as a great achievement by Karmala Harris, a California Attorney. “This is a profound day in our country, and its just the right thing: ‘Justice is finally being served’” (“Court Gives OK for California Gay Marriages”).
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The constitutional right of gay marriage is a hot topic for debate in the United States. Currently, 37 states have legal gay marriage, while 13 states have banned gay marriage. The two essays, "What’s Wrong with Gay Marriage?" by Katha Pollitt and "Gay "Marriage": Societal Suicide" by Charles Colson provide a compare and contrast view of why gay marriage should be legal or not. Pollitt argues that gay marriage is a constitutional human right and that it should be legal, while Colson believes that gay marriage is sacrilegious act that should not be legal in the United States and that “it provides a backdrop for broken families and increases crime rates” (Colson, pg535). Both authors provide examples to support their thesis. Katha Pollitt provides more relevant data to support that gay marriage is a constitutional right and should be enacted as law in our entire country, she has a true libertarian mindset.
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The ruling of Baehr vs. Lewin was a victory for gay rights activists, hope for other states searching for the same freedom, and disappointment for opponents of same-sex marriage. Yet this victory was short lived (until complete legalization in November 13, 2013) since the state appealed the lower court’s decis...
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Homosexual love relationships is exactly the same to that of a heterosexual couple. Marriage is a commitment that two people make when they love each other, they are willing to spend the rest of their days together, with the person who can be themselves and not have the fear of being judged for what they are, the person which you know is there at all times in good times and in bad times. Not with a person that you 're with only because society is so agreeable. In the United States in 2004 Massachusetts became the first state to legalize marriage be...
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