Gay Marriage Should Be Legal in All States

On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that the US Constitution guarantees the right for same-sex couples to marry. Many conservative groups do NOT agree with this decision. The gay marriage debate has been simmering for as long as I can remember. The four articles I have selected give information from four different perspectives including that of liberals, conservatives, homosexuals, and orthodox Jews. With so many differing opinions, one can understand why it's been so hard for the nation to come to agree on this issue.

When you see the word marriage, what do you see or think of? Majorities of Americans will see a man and a woman together. That’s because it is a tradition that marriage is between a man and a woman. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could marry the love of their life? Unfortunately, same sex marriage is banned in thirty-two states and only legalized in eighteen states. So why can’t gay and lesbian couples marry each other? Same sex marriage is protected by the Constitution’s commitments to liberty and equality, but it is still banned in many states. This political issue is one of the biggest issues that people have been fighting for the longest for their rights to marry the same sex. Just because they are the same sex, it doesn’t make much of a difference between a man and a woman. Both can still love each other the same as a straight couple and raise children the same so why are all these people against it? If homosexual couples can work together the same as heterosexual couples, then same sex marriage should be legalize in all states.

In the summer of 2015 the U.S supreme court ruled in favor to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 countries in the United States. This all occurred because of the Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) case. This very important case involved “14 same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners are deceased” and the couples argued that the “state officials violated [their] 14th amendment by denying them the right to marry or to have marriages lawfully performed in another state given full recognition and also violated their equal protection Clause. The supreme court ruled for this case because in the 14th Amendment it clearly declares that all people should have “equal protection under the law”, regardless of race or ethnicity.

Gay marriage is not the only issue that is being discussed throughout America involving the gay community. In a particular study done by USA Today, results showed that when Americans were asked if they think homosexual relationships between consenting adults should be legal, 46% answered yes (“USA Today” 6). However, when asked if they would then favor a law that would allow homosexuals to get married, only 24% were in favor (6). This survey also showed the differences of peoples’ ideas based on if they attended church or not (6). The results showed that 73% of Americans who attend church weekly oppose the legalization of gay marriage and only 38% of those who don’t attend church oppose legalization (6). These results show that for many Americans, marriage is a religious agreement, but for many others, marriage is a right that should be given to all who want to partake in it.

Supporters of gay marriage in the United States were a minority group for quite some time. (Green, 2015) The topic of homosexuality and same sex marriage is one that probes the primary question of whether or not same sex marriages are ones fundamental right under both the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Lempert, 2015) The case of Obergefell v. Hodges was a case that held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to recognize and grant same sex marriage licenses to couples that have been granted that right in other jurisdictions. This case may be considered a significant decision of the United States

According to DOMA, “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife” (sec 3). Until recently 2013, the US Supreme Court finally delivered the verdict that declared section 3 of the DOMA, which is the rejection of right to gay marriage is unconstitutional (Shapiro 208). In “Gay Marriage Is A Fundamental Right” by Nathan Goetting, “The right to many, and to marry the person of one's choice, is a fundamental right and a necessary aspect of human happiness. This has been an explicitly stated abiding principle since the Court used its power of judicial review to strike down as unconstitutional a legislature's definition of marriage in 1967.” Currently, 17 states in the United States have legalized the right to same sex marriage. The realization of DOMA is unconstitutional has further evidenced that gay marriage is one of the civil right that should not be taken away by the government, and it is an inevitable changes that open doors for equality and equity.

In the summer of 2015, history was made in the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court had made, with a 5-4 majority, a controversial ruling decreeing that denying equal recognition to same-sex couples was in violation of the Equal Protections Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Those on the minority cited concerns of judicial restraint, the connection between marriage and procreation, and whether or not marriage is a Constitutional issue in the first place. Nevertheless, equal recognition for same-sex couples became the law of the land.

In Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide we are able to see the slow progression of one of the most debated issues ever presented. The topic of gay marriage seemed to linger in every United States court room,

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

Gay marriage should not be recognized, similar to the opinion of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the case of United States versus Windsor. Antonin Scalia argues, “The Court’s ruling in the United States versus Windsor would wrongly invalidate state efforts to limit lawful marriage to opposite-sex couples”. In this paper, I will explain the legal and constitutional reasoning on why same-sex marriage shouldn’t be legalized nationally.

Supreme Court passed Proposition 8 which states that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Perry claims that not allowing gay couples to marry violates Amendment Fourteen, the Equal Protection Clause. On the contrary, Hollingsworth argues that same-sex couples are a bad example of married couples that have kids, as well as a religion that indicates a marriage solely for a man and a woman. This particular case questions if the Supreme Court has the right to say that a marriage should only be between a man and a woman and that if gay couples marry will it be a bad example to other marriages and the kids they have. Another case that this article brings up is United States v Windsor, in this case a couple that marries in Canada but lives in New York does not get defined as married couple. Since one of the partners passed away, all of the property the person left to her partner had taxes to be payed that she shouldn’t have to pay in the first place, but because in New York they weren’t an official married couple, she had to do

Gay marriage has been a recent controversy for many reasons. Many people (religious conservatives) believe that same-sex marriage is immoral, sinful, and threatens the traditional structure of a family. But gay and lesbian supporters feel marriage is a right that everyone should have, backed by the Due Process and Equal Protection of the Fourteenth Amendment. It has been proven that the outlook on gay marriage has changed drastically based simply on the fact that younger people had supported it and it just took time to gain enough approval from enough of the country to legalize it. Since most of 18-29 year-olds of 2006 supported same-sex marriage, “two-thirds of Americans think that same-sex marriage will eventually be legal in the United

In the past few decades, the question of allowing for same-sex marriage is a recurring topic of controversy. In the houses of same-sex couples, the need for equal rights is of great importance. Currently, many states ban the marriage of same-sex couples and do not view a marriage between same-sex couples as an official marriage. These states quote the Constitutional definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Therefore, with this definition, the marriage of a man and a man or a woman and a woman is unconstitutional. As of the issue date of this article, the Supreme Court had not made a national decision on same-sex marriage and the benefits entitled to that marriage. This CQ Researcher journal focuses on the topic of

Have you ever heard the quote, “till death do us apart”? Or do you know people that are married? Marriage is a beautiful privilege every person of the world has been granted by the constitution. It’s logical; if two people love each other, they will marry. But how is it that such a basic right has been prohibited from gays? Gay people deserve the right to love and be loved like the rest of us. Gay marriage is how legal in all 50 states in the U.S. however, it is not legal everywhere. European countries like, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia and Ukraine to name a few still prohibit gay marriage. I think gay marriage should be allowed in all counties because they deserve to be happy like the rest of the people of the world.

Same sex- marriage is still the topic of many peoples conversation across the country. Citizens, divided by politic party, are very passionate about how they feel about it. The president didn’t approve of it at first, but now he finally accepts same- sex marriage, the Judicial System uses its power to dictate to the States, forcing them to accept same- sex marriage. Both houses of Congress continue to debate what marriage means.