Massachusetts Legislature Votes to Ban Same-Sex Marriages but Approves of Civil Unions

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1933. One of the new laws Putin has put in order is an anti-blasphemy law that limits the freedom of speech and expression relating to religious customs or beliefs. The Russian community, in particular the rural and conservative population from which Putin draws most of his support, support the new laws that are in place. The law states that it seeks to “protect the younger generation from the effects of homosexual propaganda”. It says the

On the other hand, opponents of legalizing same-sex marriage have consistently outnumbered supporters, although by varying margins at different points in time, for instance, in 2004, just after Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriage, a joint survey by the Pew Research Centers Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & Press found that about twice as many Americans opposed legalization same-sex marriages (60%) as supported it (29%). More recently, an April 2009 survey found that same-sex stood at 54%, with 35% supporting the rights of gay and lesbians.

BRAMLETT, BRITTANY H. "The Cross-Pressures of Religion and Contact with Gays and Lesbians, and Their Impact on Same-Sex Marriage Opinion." Onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Politics & Policy, 21 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

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.

The Constitution of the United States does not define what marriage is, thus supporters of this act believe that each state should have the choice whether to recognize marriage between same-sex couples. Furthermore, in the tenth amendment it states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved

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).

The major cause of this gay pride movement for homosexual marriage starts with religion. “Gay marriage is contrary to the

On June 26, 2015 the US Supreme Court ended the ban on same sex marrige , deckaring it unconstitutional.The following Sunday Bishop T.D. Jakes stated his opinion on the subject during service. He said "I'm not really concerned about it... the world is gonna be the world and the church is gonna be the church, and you have to understand the difference.” This speaks to how far society has come, and how much closer we are to equality. even with the differences of opinion.

Orthodox Jews are not commonly associated with being accepting of homosexual individuals. Because of a line in Leviticus that condemns acts of homosexuality as abominations, traditional communities and shuls have taken this verse to heart and reflected it in their practices. Recently, however, some Orthodox organizations of rabbis have proven to be more lenient in their interpretations of Halacha. While the support of Orthodox Jewish homosexuals provides relief to many individuals who fall under this umbrella, there are also organizations that have provided acceptance and a safe space to these individuals long before any official stances were taken. These three concepts are the cores of all arguments surrounding the controversy of homosexuality

A metamorphosis in how the American judicial system perceives same-sex marriage, has developed over the past forty years. In October, 1971, the Supreme Court ruled that: "The institution of marriage as a union of man and woman, uniquely involving the procreation and rearing of children within a family, is as old as the book of Genesis.”

The amendment is called the Equal Rights Amendment. This amendment says “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This amendment took a very long time to be accepted by the government. Many people tried in the past to make this amendment, but no one ever agreed in the government to pass it. The first time it was presented to the government, was in 1923 by a women named Alice Paul, but was never passed. Women kept trying to persuade the congress in almost every session to accept the amendment, then in 1970, it was pushed by a democrat, Martha Griffiths, and was finally

In March of 2014 same sex marriage became legal; this was short lived as appeals were filed, which blocked any marriages from happening. 323 couples were able to be wed before the hold was placed, but the state of Michigan refused to recognize them, even though the marriages were done legally. Can you imagine what it would be like to have gotten married, but still not considered married by the state that you call home? As of January fifteenth, 2015, these marriages are finally ruled as valid.

In 1991, a poll that was taken of Chelyabinsk reveled Russian thoughts on homosexuality. 60% of the people had a negative attitude towards gays. 30% said that gays should be isolated from society. 5% said that gays should be liquidated (killed). Another 5% labeled homosexuality as “unfortunate”. When Russia was under Boris Yeltsin’s rule, which lasted from 1991 to 1999, the government was much more tolerant of the LGBT community. On May 27, 1993, homosexual acts between consenting males was legalized. Also, in 1996, a Russian LGBT rights organization called “Triangle” was formed. Since 1999, Russia has been under the control of Vladimir Putin. In 1999, homosexuality was removed from the Russian list of mental disorders. In 2002, Gennady Raikov, who is a leader of a conservative pro government group in the Russian Duma, suggested outlawing homosexuality, but he didn’t get enough votes. On July 1, 2003, homosexuals were allowed into the military. In May of 2005, Nikolai Alekseev founded the LGBT Humans Rights Project Gayrussia.ru, and a year later, the Russian LGBT network was created. But that’s where Russia’s recognition and toleration of gays stops. Since 2006, Russia has become more and more resentful and violent towards the LGBT community.

The political aspects of whether same-sex couples should be allowed to federal and government recognized marriages are a very complex issue. There are basically two sides to the political argument of whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. On one side are the liberals who feel that marriage is a civil right that should be denied based on the basis of a person's sexual orientation. On the other side you have conservatives who feel that marriage is an institution in which should only constitute one man and one woman. In this report we are going to examine how the issue of same-sex marriages are affecting our current political environment, how politics is affecting the movement for

Department of Public Health that the state could not deny civil marriage to two members of the same sex who wished to marry. Within 180 days, the legislature decided to prohibit same-sex marriages, but voted to allow civil unions. Civil union is a legal union of a same-sex couple and equivalent to marriage. In February 2004, the Supreme Judicial Court issued an advisory opinion that concluded the proposed legislation was unconstitutional. This opinion paved the way for city and town clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning in May 2004 ("2003-2004: Gay Marriage in Massachusetts and San Francisco."). Thus, that explains the difference of same-sex marriage status between these two countries.