Gay Marriage Should Remain Legal in California

On June 4, 2008, the plaintiffs in this case include fifteen same-sex couples who wish to marry in California and support groups for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Californians. They were denied many times; however, now before the California Supreme Court, they argue that “California has long led the nation in recognizing that constitutional provisions guaranteeing equal protection, privacy, due process and freedom of association and expression require that lesbian and gay people, like all people, be treated fairly under the law.” Nonetheless these protections, California has denied same-sex couples the right to marry. That denial, they argue, violates the California Constitution.

It wasn’t until October 12, 2007, that governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill approved by state law makers that would legalize gay marriage. On May 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution protects a fundamental “right to marry” that would also extend to same sex marriage. The people were outraged saying that same sex marriages went against their religion on their views of a traditional marriage. People also argued that gay marriage went against the constitution as well because people could no longer have free exercise of religion. According to the Huffington Post, gay marriage, “Protects the free expression of religion, as supporters of Proposition 8 were worried that Gay Rights advocates were not affording them the same courtesy-to live and believe as they please-as the Gay and Lesbian community was/is demanding.” All these events eventually lead to picketing against gay marriage and the voice of the American people was starting to be heard on this

In our nation, the battle still continues over marriage equality. In 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to get married. 18,000 same-sex couples were married throughout the state. Six months later, voters passed Proposition 8, a ballot initiative, which defined marriage as between one man and one man in California. In the article published by Marriage Equality USA, Prop 8 Hurt My Family – Ask me how, discusses Proposition 8 before it was overturned. Marriage Equality USA describes their selves, as: “A national organization whose mission is to secure legally recognizes civil marriage equality for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation” (p. 69). Marriage Equality USA illustrates that Proposition 8 caused Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) individual, family member and straight allies experiences homophobia, verbal abuse and physical abuse. Marriage Equality USA decided to write this essay in hopes that the California Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8.

San Francisco has the most male to male marriage, while Oakland has the most woman to woman marriage. Just like other things, the people from California are now more open minded about this matter, not only in two of the major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles but all the other regions in the state support same-sex marriage “more than six in 10 residents in the San Francisco Bay Area (73%, up 15 points since 2008) and Los Angeles (64%, up 20 points) favor allowing same-sex marriage”. The support or acceptance toward same-sex marriage increased from men and women from all ages; from young adults to elderly

On August 4th, 2010, US District Judge Vaughn Walker wrote that California instating Proposition 8 which banned Gay Marriage in the state is "unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses." (Gay 5) Gay Marriage is protected by the Constitutions theme of liberty and equality, as well as the Bill of Rights, both documents praise the idea of freedom and rights for all citizens regardless of sexual orientation.

Out of all the thousands of rights, marriage equality; equal acceptance of same-sex marriages; is the biggest controversy. Opposite sex couples believe that gay marriage will harm or destroy marriage all together if it is allowed, because it is not a ‘traditional’ marriage between one male and one female. Only banning same-marriage will destroy marriage and society. Marriage is a keystone of our social order. Studies show that the United States has one of the highest divorce rates when compared to other countries (infogr.am). Allowing gays the privilege to get married will increase marriage rates and less couples will get divorced due to not being attracted to the opposite sex. The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, which has conducted previous studies on same-sex relationships and parenting, collected administrative data on divorce rates between lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender couples from New Hampshire and Vermont. The data found that same-sex couples divorced at an average rate of 1.1 percent annually between the two states, compared with 2 percent annually between heterosexual pairs

A couple from a same sex marriage is placed into different category in the eyes of the federal government. The federal government does not view this relationship, even in a state that deems it legal the federal government withholds benefits that heterosexual couples have. In 1996 “The federal Defense of Marriage Act” was passed. This brought more problems for LGBT who were not allowed to add their spouses The langue in the federal Defense of Marriage Act stated that marriage is "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife". This shows the complete disregard to the rights of a group of people, having no sympathy for any parts of their lives; this not only

Gay marriages are highly debated and opposed. In California the opposition to gay marriage enjoyed a win by having legislators reconsider banning gay marriage. Through rallying and other measurements the opposition of gay marriage is working to overturn same sex marriage. If legislation is overturned, it would allow marriage only between a man and a woman. This would also eliminate the right to civil unions by gays in the state. We must seek a solution to same sex marriage. Same sex marriage will continue to be an ongoing legal battle. It is important we find a solution that both sides of the argument agree on or come closest to a compromise between the two sides. (Gay Marriage Showdowns)

Two months after this legislation was passed, and then quickly amended to be worded in such a way that it wouldn’t sound discriminatory, the Supreme Court has found same sex marriage to be a civil right. Supreme Justice Anthony Kennedy spoke for his fellow conservative Supreme Court Justices, "Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization 's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right." (de Vogue and Diamond.) Despite how increasingly common it is for churches to be supportive of the LGBT movement, there are still many churches that refuse to marry same sex couples. There are still corporations that discriminate against their employees. In 28 states it’s still perfectly legal to discriminate a person based on their orientation. (Calfas.) Too often in this nation turns a blind eye to the

On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court made a surprising 4-3 decision to establish a “constitutional right to marriage for same-sex couples in the state” (Jost, Gay Marriage Showdowns). However, there were people who opposed same-sex couples being allowed to marry and Proposition 8 was soon after introduced. Proposition 8 would be presented on ballots later that year and would amend the state constitution legalizing same-sex marriage and allow only for a man and a woman to be married (Jost, Gay Marriage Showdowns). However, California was not the first state to allow same-sex marriage.

In 2015, President Barack Obama announced that in all 50 states same-sex marriage was legal. Thousands, maybe millions, of queer people rejoiced and celebrated. They were able to marry the people they love the most, legally. The debate about same-sex marriage started in the 1970s, however before that time, no one discussed the idea of same-sex marriage. Baehr v. Miike was the first court as to rule “...excluding same-sex couples from marriage was discrimination” (lambdalegal.org). Three same-sex couples attempted to apply for marriage license in Hawaii, but were denied. Even though they met every requirement, there was one exception: being the same gender. As a result, they filed a lawsuit because they believed it was unconstitutional. The trial took six years, but eventually the state of Hawaii passed an amendment that allowed same-sex marriage. Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage on May 17, 2004 when the court case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health was presented. The Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders filed a case when they were denied a marriage license in 2001. According to them, denying the licenses was unconstitutional and the court’s decision was 4-3, in favor of same-sex marriage. Same-sex should continue to be legal because in the United States marriage is a basic right, therefore members of the gay community should have the same benefits as heterosexual couples, which decreases the suicide rate of people who are LGBTQ+.

In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled on a case about same-sex marriage, Obergfell v. Hodges. The final ruling (holding) of the case, stated by SCOTUSBlog, the fourteenth amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same-sex and also to recognize a marriage between two people of the same-sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed

The law this state recently passed is Proposition 8, also known as the California Marriage Protection Act. In truth it isn’t just a law. Proposition 8 was recently passed by Californian legislature as a new amendment to their state constitution. This amendment forbids any same-sex marriage throughout the state of California. This California bill garnered a lot of support from many different sources. Much of the support that was behind this bill was religious in nature, especially by the Mormon group. However, not all of the support behind this bill was religious. There was also a number of political supporters, most notably Sen. John McCain. However, in his statement, he never actually said that he personally was against same-sex marriage. He only said that he supported Proposition 8 because it seemed like the majority of the constituency of California supported it. Bills and amendments like these have a significant effect on an average homosexual’s state of mind, as shown by a study:

While the Federal Government denies gay and lesbian couples the right to marry, there are some state governments which allow same-sex couples the right to domestic partnerships, civil unions, and marriages. “Comparing marriage to civil unions and domestic partnerships is a bit like comparing diamonds to rhinestones” (Human

What a great day it is to be writing about same-sex marriages! As of today, June 26th, 2015, same sex marriage is now legal in ALL fifty states. When I first started working on this project, same-sex marriages were not legal nationwide in the United States of America. In fact, it was only legal in a select few of the states. Because same sex-marriages are considered as queer and deviant, it has been a widely controversial issue. This problem, however, has finally been addressed by the supreme court and changes have been made for the better. We are now the twenty-first country on the globe to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. As a tribute for further support of this historical moment, here are some comparative statistics, logical reasoning, and pros about the legalization of same-sex marriages.