The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. As of January 2014, only seventeen states in the U.S. had legalized gay marriage, allowing same sex couples to marry. The other 33 states have constitutional amendments that deny the freedom to marry among same sex couples (Where State Laws). Gale states that homosexual relationships and even gay marriages have existed since the beginning of recorded history. However in 1970, when gay couples desiring marriage licenses were denied, the battle for equal rights exploded (Gay Marriage). The topic of the legalization of gay marriage offers much debate, with positives such as the United States greatly benefiting, it does not ruin the sanctity of marriage, and homosexuals being granted the same rights as heterosexuals and negatives such as opposing popular religious views, changing the orthodox definition of marriage, and gay marriage harms our children.
The legalization of same sex marriage, when often disputed, is said to benefit the United States in many ways. It has been recorded that by allowing same-sex couples to marry, the state receives an economic boost. New York for example received $259 million into its economy after allowing same sex couples to marry. The legalization of gay marriage also promotes a state of wellbeing amongst LGBT people (7 Ways Murray). The Federal Government for example previously denied more than 1000 benefits to legally married couples. This is because the DOMA Act (Defense of Marriage Act) defined marriage as a union between one woman and one man. However, recently this section of the act was deemed unconstitutional. This means that same-sex couples, who are legally married at the state...
... middle of paper ...
... frc.org Family Research Council
2004 Web. 18 Feb 2014
“Gay Marriage.” Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.
“History and Debate of Gay Marriage” Debate.org n.p 2012. Web. 4 Feb. 14
“Just-The-Facts” Whymarriagematter.org Why Marriage Matters. N.d Web. 4 Feb. 14
Khan, Zafar “Islamic Views About Homosexuality” Islamicawareness.net n.p n.d Web. 14 Feb. 2014
Lipp, Murray “7 Ways the U.S.A Benefits from the Legalization of Gay Marriage” Huffingtonpost.com Huffington Post 2 June 2013 Web 6 Feb 2014
Lipp, Murray “The Top 10 Arguments Against Gay Marriage” Huffingtonpost.com Huffington Post 28 May 2013 Web 16 Feb 2014
Smith, Michal “Same-Sex Marriage Bad for Society” Dailyherald.com Daily Herald 21 Feb 2014 Web 9 Feb 2014
“Where State Laws Stand” Freedomtomarry.org Freedom to Marry I
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”).
Allowing homosexual couples to get married will bring in more marriages and a bigger amount of money to the economy. A big part of getting married is the financial aspect of it. "Marriage ceremonies entail a significant expense, and it was estimated by the Comptroller of New York that the added infusion from legalizing same sex couple marriages would add $142 million to the economy. This not only accounts for the profits that businesses will receive if same-sex marriage is allowed, but also for the payments these couples must make to acquire marriage licenses."
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.
The U.S. has recognized marriage as a basic human right by many court cases including Loving v Virginia. Since protecting the marriage of a black-Cherokee woman and a white man, the case has also helped support the legalization of same-sex marriage in all 50 states. This is important because it creates a more united America by knocking down social constraints that disallowed the 5-10% of America identified as homosexual from being married. In the same way as blacks were not allowed to vote, gay couples were not allowed to marry. The legalization of same-sex marriage is helping bridge the split in social order of America by not outlawing same-sex couples for being “immoral” and implying the couples are less-deserving of marriage than a heterosexual relationship. The change of expanding the 14th amendment’s meaning of equal protection of rights for all citizens, in this case for marriage, is helping people treat each other as equivalent and allowing the country to take another step towards liberty and justice for
Same-sex marriage has been one of the most controversial topics in the United States, and gay couples have been facing harsh judges by others. Gay marriage is very important because it challenges our values on freedom, and this will affect the next generation’s understanding of marriage. In “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage,” the author uses historical facts trying to convince his audience that same-sex marriage should be protected under laws and granted respect by people. On the other hand, the author of “Prop 8 Hurts My Family-ask Me How” uses incidences of how homosexual couples are being harassed and discriminated by others to show how they were unequally treated after prop 8 was passed. They both use the rhetorical strategies effectively
“The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage Why Same-sex Marriage Is An an American Value” is an essay written by Theodore B. Olson, arguing that same-sex marriage is what conservatives want in society and values. “Prop 8 Hurt My Family-Ask Me How” is a report released by Marriage Equality USA, listing different accounts of emotional and physical harassment on the LGBT community and its supporter due to Prop 8. In “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage Why Same-sex Marriage Is An an American Value” by Theodore B. Olson and “Prop 8 Hurt My Family - Ask Me How” by Marriage Equality USA, both of the authors used the different writing techniques efficiently to their advantages. They were able to reach their audience and give their message to the audience productively, using the different rhetorical strategies. The different rhetorical strategies that will be discussed about is purpose, audience, genre, stance, media/design, logos, ethos, and pathos.
There are 1,138 benefits, rights and protections available to married couples in federal law alone, according to a General Accounting Office assessment made in 2004. (Congressional Budget Office, June 21 2004) Benefits only available to married couples include hospital visitation during an illness, the option of filing a joint tax return to reduce a tax burden, access to family health coverage, US residency and family unification for partners from another country, and bereavement leave and inheritance rights if a partner dies. Married couples also have access to protections if the relationship ends, such as child custody, spousal or child support, and an equitable division of property. Married couples in the US armed forces are offered health insurance and other benefits unavailable to domestic partners.The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the US Department of Labor also recognize married couples, for the purpose of granting tax, retirement and health insurance benefits. The US federal government does not grant equivalent benefits to gay couples in civil unions or domestic partnerships. (Hicks, Josh. July 8, 2008) An Oct. 2, 2009 analysis by the New York Times estimated that same-sex couples denied marriage benefits will incur an additional $41,196 to $467,562 in expenses over their lifetimes compared with married heterosexual couples. A Jan. 2014 analysis published by the Atlantic concluded that unmarried women pay up to one million dollars more over their lifetimes than married women for healthcare, taxes, and other expenses. This shows that married heterosexual couples have more rights than married homosexual couples and all people should have equal
As granted by the United States Constitution, everyone is entitled to equal rights. The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. Gay rights are forgotten many times and equal rights for same-sex marriage are often ignored. For this reason, federal authorities have left policymaking regarding this topic up to individual state governments. Many people throughout the United States, and across the world, have extremely different views on the subject; some because of religious reasons, others because of family, others because of how they were raised. The policy of gay marriage and equal rights is an extremely touchy subject, and is much deeper than what it may seem.
The issue of gay marriage needs little introduction as it is one of the most widely contended and discussed topics in the United States of America. While the issue is relatively recent one has to question why this is even an issue to begin with. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. Arguments come from both religious groups, as well as secular focused sources. Reasoning against gay marriage ranges from religious immorality, to the idea that giving gays the right to marry would support minoritarianism (giving minority special privileges and advantages in either a legislative or societal capacity). There are countless arguments besides those mentioned, few of which have any substantial grounds to stand on. Gay marriage causes no political or communal grief, except for those who strongly oppose it now. Even for those people gay people exist either way. Whether they are married or not will not change that and their lives will not be dramatically changed from it. Gay marriage has no valid reason to be outlawed and there are plenty of reasons to allow it.
Gay and lesbian couples deserve for their commitment to each other to be viewed with equality on a legal and social level. There are numerous rights withheld from same-sex couples when they are denied the liberty to marry. For example, same-sex couples are usually not considered next-of-kin. In medical situations this means that they are unable to visit their partner in the hospital, or have a say in life-or-death medical decisions (Wolfson). Recently, two reporters from the New York Times calculated that same-sex couples can lose as much as $500,000 over their lifetime, because they are unable to receive employers' spousal health insurance, as well as other disadvantages (Badgett, 2013). On top of the legal issues faced by homosexual couples, they also face discrimination daily. Social acceptance of gay marriage cannot be mandated, but with legalization, gay marriage will eventually become a social ...
My first reason for legalizing same-sex marriage is that same-sex marriage will save a lot of money in every year. To start with, according to the Susan Sommer, the director of constitutional litigation at Lambda Legal, “there are hundreds of different protections and benefits under New York Law [3]”. After the New York Law performed, gay couples will get a lot of financial benefits and legal rights. In addition, same-sex couples who earn less than $65,000 may pay less income tax than the opposite-sex couples. And also, same-sex married couples will get the estate and gift taxes, state employee benefits, and some potential future benefits [3].
Same-sex couples in many states are still fighting everyday to just simply get married. Thirty-five states have made same-sex marriage legal, but there are still fifteen states that have a ban on same-sex marriage and those fifteen will not recognize the union (“Same-Sex Marriage Fast Facts”). Those fifteen states now have an easier time now to keep the
Allowing same-sex marriages provides socio-economic equalization of benefits that traditional couples are granted when they enter into the civil union of marriage. The socio-economic rights of pension benefits, hospital visitation, child support, affordable housing etc... are given freely, and are expected when a couple is married. These basic resources for a healthy marriage are typically absent when same-sex marriages or civil unions are in question (Dinno & Whitney, 2013). Currently in the U.S., 17 states plus the District of Columbia allows same-sex couples to marry and four others allow domestic partnerships or civil unions (Same sex marriage map, 2014). The states that the same-sex couples are married in, are typically, the only states where their marriage rights are guaranteed. It is up to the gaining state’s laws whether the marriage is legal and ca...
“Marriage comes with many benefits, rights, and protections in federal law alone. These benefits are only available to married couples, some of these benefits are; joint tax, access to family health coverage and others. Married couples also have access to protections if the relationship end”( ). With all these benefits that come with marriage, the gay community should be able to have the right to access these benefits like straight people
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court came to the conclusion that marriage is a right protected by the U.S. constitution in all 50 states. Prior to their decision, same sex marriage was legal in 37 states, including Washington D.C. Same sex marriage goes against what the bible says. I feel that homosexuality is unnatural and immoral. Gay marriage is incompatible with the beliefs of several Christian.