Defense of Marriage Act Essay example

In recent years, the debate over same-sex marriage has grown into a nationwide controversy, reverberating into the halls of congress, at the white house, in dozens of state and legislature and courtrooms, and in the rhetoric of election campaigns at both the national and state levels. As the debate rages on, the American religious community remains deeply divided over the issue, and over the morality of homosexuality. The debate has grown from an issue that occasionally arose in a few states to a national and even worldwide controversy.

For the past 3 decades the views surrounding marriage has undergone a great deal of change (Lennox, 2015, p. 1101). This shift is due to the continual discussion of gay marriage. The interplay of religion and politics has led for much controversy. In the United States, the use of Christian and Jewish biblical texts are the main sources drawn upon for opposition, but have also been used as a supportive means of equality. Beyond the religious there are also psychological and physical health arguments, as well as civil rights arguments. Same sex marriage is examined through different paradigms, thus giving rise to religious, political/legal, and religious arguments surrounding the legalization of this institution for gay and lesbian couples.

Two New York residents, both women, married lawfully in Canada. When one of the spouses, Thea Spyer, died, she left her estate to the other spouse, Edith Windsor. Windsor was not able to claim the estate tax exemption for surviving spouses because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law that excluded same-sex partners from the definition of “spouse” in its statutory use. Both the district court and the court of appeals found that portion of the statute unconstitutional.

This act was passed to define and protect the institution of marriage which is supposed to be “between a man and a woman”. As a tactic, the state of Vermont promoted same sex marriages by labeling them as “civil unions” (Schowengerdt, 2002). The state of Vermont felt civil unions would provide gays and lesbians with the same financial benefits as heterosexual couples (Stewart, 2004). In 1998, Hawaii’s stated legislation implemented the DOMA amendment that altered the state’s constitution and rejected same sex marriages (Schowengerdt, 2002). Between 1995 and 2000, 28 states passed laws preventing the recognition of same sex marriages (Schowengert, 2002). The purpose of the DOMA was to prevent gays and lesbians from “exporting same sex marriages to other states” (Finnis, 1997). A Florida Federal Judge denied two women recognition of their marriage which took place in Massachusetts. As a result of this denial, attemtps were made to force other states and the federal government to recognize same sex marriages in states where it is legal (Stewart, 2003).

Within the last month a highly anticipated law suit toward DOMA or the Defense of Marriage Act has come to a close. A federal judge has named portions of DOMA as unconstitutional. The verdict is a large win for those supporters of gay rights, as well as giant loss for those that oppose this type of union (Trotter). To clarify, if this verdict is upheld, federal government would have no say in whether or not to legalize gay marriage. Each individual states government would be held responsible to do so (Trotter). Thusly, the issue at hand then becomes should gay marriage be legal?

The Defense Marriage Act is also known as DOMA. This act has been around for decades and continues to change over the years to shape individuals rights and needs. Individual’s perception of marriage equality is constantly evolving, and the number of government officials that recognize same-sex marriage is constantly changing (Rodriguez & Blumell, 2014). This act not only affects the LGBTQ community and their families, but also affects the whole nation. Many have different opinions on the topic and what should be in the Defense Marriage Act. Some were elated with the recent decision in the summer of 2013 the LGBT community where included in the Defense Marriage Act. This arose when the language of section (2) in the DOMA, was defined as unconstitutional

Only seven out of the 50 United States have declared gay marriage legal. These states include California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington D.C. and most recently, Hawaii who legalized gay marriage on February 23 of this year. The governor made a statement saying, “This bill represents equal rights for everyone in Hawaii, everyone who comes here. This to me is the essence of the aloha spirit. With its signing, I want to say ‘welcome’ to the world, come to paradise.” However, this country has continued to vote to keep an estimated 9 million Americans who claim to be homosexual from marrying (Morello). Some are uncomfortable with gay marriage or it may go against their religion but banning it directly

Same-sex marriage, a controversial social issue in the U.S. for several decades, is constantly evolving. When viewed historically, great change has happened in a short period of time, in the movement for same-sex marriage, given that until recently, no society in thousands of years has ever allowed it.

The legalization of gay marriage has been a controversial issue in many state courts since the mid 1970s. Gay marriage scares many people because it strays from the norms of heterosexual relationships. Traditional American ideals have become a part of culture and society that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, or race, or gender, expect to have as a basic human rights. Several times in history these have been identified as inalienable rights. One of the expected rights of many American citizens is the right to choose who they love, who they marry, and how they live their day to day life. When heterosexual Americans were introduced to the idea of same sex marriage, they became afraid that it would “taint the minds of the young members of the community,” since homosexualty was and still is frowned upon in the community. Thus, the homosexual community’s opportunity to freely choose how to live their life is taken

The struggle for marriage equality in the United States began in the 1970’s. It became more prominent in 1993 when the Hawaiian Supreme court declared that state’s prohibition against marriage between people of the same sex to be unconstitutional (Weiss, 2013). In response to this, there was significant public outcry and opponents of marriage equality asserted that marriage could only be defined as a union between a man and a woman. This resulted in prohibitive legislation that was enacted in 1996 known as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) DOMA prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages (Baker, 2013). DOMA also allowed each state to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states. Be that as it may, in the 21st century, public and legislative support for marriage equality has grown and various national polls conducted since 2011 show that a majority of Americans support marriage equality (Live Science Staff, 2011; Newport, 2011). On May 9, 2012, Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to publicly declare support for the legalization of same-sex marriage. The provision of DOMA, forbidding the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages was struck down by the Supreme Court on June 26th of 2013. In the ensuing two years, 36 states, the District of Columbia, 24 Native American Tribal jurisdictions and Guam had legalized same sex marriage. However up

For this journal entry, I have decided to review the Respect for Marriage Act. The Respect for Marriage Act, was introduced in 2009, as a repeal to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which deems that the federal government does not recognize marriages of same sex couples. The Respect for Marriage Act was then reintroduced in 2015. The Respect for Marriage Act is a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure respect for State regulation of marriage (https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/29)., amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state,

Legalizing gay marriage has given America a troubling debate throughout a majority of the states. With only thirty-seven states allowing legal gay marriage, the other thirteen have either banned it or are still deciding (unknown, 2015, para 1). Gay marriage is seen as different and wrong to so many people in America that is has become sickening. People do have their differences and as Justin Timberlake once said, “We’re people and we’re different, all of us. And we should be using our differences to bring ourselves closer together” and with this being said, everyone is equal to one another in different ways (Timberlake, 2014, 10). For example, two people could have two different religions, which is different, but also equal in the sense

Marriage within the United States has always been focused on one man and one woman being together for the remainder of their lives. To have marriage be centered on the union of a man and a man or a woman and a woman is preposterous. Marriage is needed to keep our society prosperous with the production of children who will one day take over the roles of their parents when they pass on. Marriage between couples of the same sex will not produce children, thereby defeating the purpose of marriage altogether. It is argued that same-sex couples could increase the number of adoptions of needy children in the United States, this much is true, but belonging to a household where the heads of the house are of the same-sex could cause problems for the child in the long run. Bullying and teasing in school will undoubtedly surround these children daily, it is not worth the emotional pain that will inevitably befall these children to give them a home in a same-sex household, no matter how loving these parents are.

Over the years in our country’s history it has been apparent that the idea of same sex marriages is becoming much more popular, however in most states there is still one thing stopping them. That one thing stopping two people from the pursuit of happiness which they desire is a social injustice. Social injustices are situations where a person or group of people is treated unfairly due to certain factors for example discrimination, prejudice, racism, heterosexism, sexism, and so forth. In the case of same sex marriages, the factor playing a major role in this social injustice is where most people believe that opposite sexes attract, but in the case of a same sex couple wanting to be married, this brings about many topics to be discussed by

One of the most controversial issues around today is gay marriages. Many believe that the media is primly responsible for the idea of same-sex marriages, but when it all comes down to it there are really only two sides; those who support gay marriages, and those who oppose them. Two authors write their opinions on their opposite views on this issue. Sullivan (2002) supports same-sex marriages and believes marriage to be a universal right, not just restricted to heterosexuals. Contrary to Sullivan, Bennett (2002) believes that marriage is a sacred traditional family value that should be set aside for heterosexual couples. (2002)Throughout this essay, I will summarize both authors’ ideas and evaluate them through their evidence and