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Debate on gay marriage
Issue of gay marriages
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Thesis: Gay marriage is a very sensitivity subject that strikes a cord with many people which causes the three levels of government to step in a provide guidance; the President standing publicly in support of gay marriages, the United States Congress has passed several laws concerning gay marriages and the Supreme Court has ruled making it unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage.
President Obama has been commended for his support of gay rights including gay marriage by gay rights advocates. The president has stated his public support for the rights for gay couples to get married during several interviews like the one USA News. President Obama claims that after discussing the issue with his family, he took a stand in support of gay marriage
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The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court decided in a vote of 5-4 that same sex couples have the same fundamental right to marry as opposite-sex couples do, and that it is unconstitutional to not to give them that right. All Americans have the right to get married, and now thanks to the efforts of the three branches of government in America, Americans have the right to marry anyone they choose of any gender: in the Executive branch, President Obama changed his views in support of gay marriage; in the Legislative branch, Congress and the United States legislature are changing laws in regard to marriage as public opinion changes in favor of same-sex marriage; in the Judicial branch, the United States Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage bans in all states to be unconstitutional. Whether Americans agree with the choice or lifestyle of gay and lesbian Americans has nothing to do with the issue. It is an issue of fairness, and that is what the three branches of the American government have made their stand on. The Constitution of the United States guarantees that all American citizens will be treated equally in the law, and that is what the three branches of the American government have set out to do. In Brown v. the Board of Education it was found to be unfair to treat someone unequally because of skin color; in Roe v. Wade it was found to be
The supreme court case of Obergefell v. Hodges is one huge reason why we have same-sex marriage as of today. Richard Hodges is the defendant while James Obergefell is the plaintiff. As a result of this case, states are unable to pass laws that limit marriage of same-sex couples. It requires all states to license marriages between these couples, and makes states recognise marriages made outside of said states. Before this case, there were several other cases that supported similar, but not exact situations, which will be briefly covered in this essay. However, the Obergefell v. Hodges case is what officially made same-sex marriage undeniable by all states in the union.
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 United States has a system of checks and balances that limit the majority’s power. The Constitution protects individual liberties and ensures that the majority cannot infringe upon them. The Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech, religion, and the press, among other rights. The judicial branch of government ensures that the majority’s power is limited by interpreting the Constitution and striking down laws that violate individual liberties.
Thomas Jefferson, in his 1801 First Inaugural Address for President of the United States of America, stated, “All . . . will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect and to violate would be oppression (Inaugural Addresses, 1989).” Jefferson was not alone in this thinking. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and others understood that the unbridled power of the majority, which is the life-blood of a democracy, could be easily used to ignore or degrade the rights of a minority group. The framers of our nation intended for the protection of minority rights over the “tyranny of the majority” to be an ardent duty of the federal government.
There were many different attitudes from the religious people. Some hailed the Supreme Court decision as righteous and holy, while majority deplored it as an affront to God. Many Americans with Christianity beliefs are not happy, with the same sex marriage. They go by the Bible, and fell the “Courts decision does not alter the Lords doctrine that marriage is a union between a man and a woman”. They still show respect towards those who have different believes, but will continue to teach and promote marriage between a man and a woman as a part of their doctrine and
For some background, this case escalated to the Supreme Court since several groups of same-sex couples from different states, sued state agencies when their marriage was refused to be recognized. As it escalated through appeals, the plaintiffs argued that the states were violating the Equal Protection clause and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Equal Protection, according to the Constitution refers to the fact that, “any State [shall not] deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” (23). The opposition of this case was that, 1) The Constitution does not address same-sex marriage as a policy, and 2) The sovereignty of states regarding the decision. Ultimately, and according to the Oyez project, the Court held that “[the Amendment] guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects, and that analysis applies to same-sex couples,” and therefore, same-sex marriage is a fundamental liberty.
Declared in the U.S. Constitution every American or should it be person, is guaranteed civil rights. Civil rights did not just consist of “freedom of speech and assembly,” but as well as “the right to vote, the right to equal protection under the law, and procedural guarantees in criminal and civil rights,” (Dawood). It was not until 1791, that the Bill of Rights was appended to the constitution, which helped clarify these rights to citizens. “Rights were eventually applied against actions of the state governments in a series of cases decide by the Supreme Court,” Dawood stated. In previous years (1790-1803), the Supreme Court had little say in decisions being made by government. As time went on the Supreme Court took on more responsibility and started making additional decisions, which in time helped minorities gain their civil rights. It took a couple of years, as a matter of fact till the 1900’s for the Supreme Court to get out of the “ideology of white supremacy and the practice of racism,” (Smith). Though the decisions of the Supreme Court were not all that appreciated in the beginning, following the 20th century the court really facilitated in the advancements of civil rights.
Our Constitution is color blind, ...but the practices of the country do not always conform to the principles of the Constitution... Equality before the law has not always meant equal treatment and opportunity. And the harmful, wasteful and wrongful results of racial discrimination and segregation still appear in virtually every aspect of national life, in virtually every part of the nation (Loevy, 5).
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
The Legalization of Gay Marriage in America; not for the Homosexual People, but for all People of America.
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”).
Equality before the law ensures that all citizens are treated equally before the law. An individual’s human attributes or their ethnic, racial, social or religious background cannot lead to the inferior or superior treatment of the individual from the law. This fundamental right has served the country well ...
The recognition of same-sex marriage is a political, social, and religious issue. Because of this same-sex marriage is a very controversial topic. Legal acknowledgement of same sex marriage is commonly referred to as marriage equality. Many advocates of marriage equality argue that laws restricting marriage to only heterosexuals discriminate against homosexuals. On the other hand advocates against same-sex marriage argue that it would undo long-standing traditions and change the meaning of marriage in a damaging manor. In this essay I will be arguing for same-sex marriage. The arguments mentioned as well as others will be discusses throughout this paper.
R Canadians today are granted the right to marry whomever they desire, regardless of sexuality. Equality has truly been achieved as gay and lesbian couples are now recognized as Canadian citizens, benefiting from the freedom to express their love for one another and from the same constitutional rights as heterosexual couples. However, this was not always the case. In order for same-sex couples to be represented the way they are in modern day society, Canada had to experience social change. Specifically, legal same-sex marriage was achieved through a change in law enforcement, but this process had a substantial impact on Canadian society.
In recent years, same-sex marriage has become a more controversial topic on whether it’s right or wrong. People should not feel coerced to agree with something they believe is wrong; clearly, same-sex marriage is immoral and unnatural. Many complications come with same-sex marriages including financial pressures, social pressures, moral pressures, and health risks.