George Chauncey, Why Marriage?

In The Gay Marriage Case, Obergefell v Hodges, the United States Supreme Court decided that a state may not prohibit same-sex marriage. Instead, it emphasized that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to the gay society through the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment of the United States of America Constitution. The involved decision maker in the case was Justice Anthony Kennedy, who gave four primary reasons for his decision.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) allows for all the states to deny same-sex couples the same rights as their counterparts. It also gives a formal definition to marriage as the union between a man and a woman (Same Sex Marriage, 2017). The bill does violate the Establishment clause in the First Amendment as the government fails to separate church and state. The document does allude to the book of Genesis when it defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman (Text-HR, 2017). However, most of the nation did not approve of same-sex marriages as the time so the President chose to sign the bill that would later be revoked because of court case Obergefell vs Hodges (Same Sex Marriage, 2017).

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.

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.

Same-sex marriage is protected by the Constitution. In 1974, The US Supreme Court ruled that: “freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause.”

After Mayor Newsom of San Francisco allowed many gay couples to marry beginning on Valentine’s Day in 2004, many Americans became more aware of the issue (Taylor 3). Newsom, a heterosexual, Jesuit-educated son of a prominent state judge, is an unlikely person to support the gay community in this fight (Breslau 40). Newsom was shocked after hearing President Bush’s comments about preserving the “sanctity of marriage” and stated, “I had just taken an oath of office not to allow discrimination. It was pretty darned clear what my obligations

And In 2000 Vermont became the first state to adopt a statute providing for a civil union for same-sex couples. (http://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/baker-v-vermont) A coalition supporting gay rights had brought a case before the Vermont Supreme Court on behalf of gay couples, Baker v. Vermont. The plaintiffs asked the Court to make sure that gay couples were not excluded from the same benefits and protections that straight couples have. http://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/baker-v-vermont.

On July 28, 2015, SCOTUS declared that the denial of gay marriage is unconstitutional. The case dealt with 32 plaintiffs who

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.

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme court ruled gay marriage as a constitutional right in all 50 states. This was a tremendous achievement for the LGBT community, it was the beginning of acceptance. Even though the Supreme Court passed this ruling

The Supreme Court has declared that same-sex couples have been allowed to marry the person they love in all 50 states. Justice Anthony together with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor agree with the same sex marriage. But the decision, however, was not unanimous due to the non agreement of Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Anthonin Scalia with the implementation of same-sex marriage.

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,

“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that 's not what America 's about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don 't contract them,” President Barack Obama says. Soon later, on July 26, 2015 President Barack Obama declares that same-sex marriage will be allowed in all states of America. The United States Supreme Court ruled that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples and the refusal to recognize same-sex marriages being performed is no longer allowed in the US. After the announcement, the country went lunatic.

This is a comprehensive source of information on same sex marriage and gay rights. It contains unbiased, general explanations of the issue as well as scholarly opinions presenting the pros and cons. This source also refers to same sex marriage legislation in other parts of the world. For example, it describes the “homophobic climate of Uganda and other African countries,” and traces gay marriage customs back to the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Hungary. This source also compares the option of civil unions to the legalization of same sex marriage.

(2015, May 27). Virtually Every Demographic Group Now Supports Gay Marriage. Nationaljournal.com. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.davenport.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA415210665&v=2.1&u=lom_davenportc&it=r&p=STND&sw=w&asid=e94be71888197bfe314079b2832d8429