The Pros And Cons Of Same Sex Marriage

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Marriage and the union of couples regarding their sex has been a nationwide issue in the United States for quite some time. The Supreme Court case now known as Hollingsworth v. Perry took place in California but is very well known nationally. Naturally California, as well as the rest of the country, has battled with their marriage laws for many years but events leading up to this specific case did not begin until around 2000. On the March 7, 2000 ballot in California, voters approved Proposition 22. Proposition 22 legally stated that marriage was a union between one man and one woman (Oyez). This proposition seemed to serve well for the state of California until 2008 where the California Supreme Court required that marriage included the union of same-sex couples as well, which invalidated Proposition 22. Citizens whom did not seem to agree with the invalidation of Proposition 22 sought to do something about their opposing views. Only a few months later, California citizens passed Proposition 8, overturning the court’s ruling from earlier that year. In the California elections of November 2008, ballot initiative Proposition 8 was passed. This California state constitutional amendment stated, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” This proposition did not affect the state’s same sex marriages or domestic partnerships performed before November 5, 2008 (Martin). It wasn’t long before the state started experiencing arguments based on the validity of Proposition 8. Two same-sex couples responded to the proposition, which eventually led to the well-recognized case Hollingsworth v. Perry (formally known as Hollingsworth v. Perry). In May 2009 attorneys Ted Olson and Davis Boies filed on behalf... ... middle of paper ... ...unconstitutional. It was not an issue of federal preemption because no federal laws were broken; rather it was a relatively common legal issue with controversial views. In the case Hollingsworth v. Perry it was ruled that California’s Proposition 8 violated the equal protection and due process of homosexual individuals under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment limits the powers of the states rather than the federal government, stating that no state shall deny any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Therefore, the Constitution forbids any level of government, federal or state, from prohibiting the marriage of same-sex couples.

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