Pros And Cons Of Marriage Equality

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).

Historically, the same sex marriage movement can be traced back to the early 1970’s, when gay rights activists begun the movement by bringing forward three suits in Minnesota, Kentucky, and Washington, but none of the suits were successful (Rosenberg). Following these actions in 1986, the case of Bowers v. Hardwick was brought before the Supreme Court

DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) was enacted in September 21, 1996 signed by President Bill Clinton. The purpose of this act was to recognize marriage as a bond only between a man and a woman. It has been widely debated whether marriage only consists between a man and woman, since because it has been traditionally recognized and practiced dating back thousands of years ago until today.

The first spark to set flames to the waging war on marriage equality happened on October 15, 1971. In the Supreme Court case of Baker v. Nelson on October 15, 1971, one of three cases brought forth by same-sex couples, Richard Baker and James Richard McConnell were denied a marriage license by a county court clerk in Minnesota in May of 1970 (Minnesota Legislature, 1971, Richard John Baker and Another v. Gerald R. Nelson). The initial trial court dismissed their claim, declaring that the clerk had the power to refuse the right of marriage to gay couples. The couple lost again in the Minnesota Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court followed by confirming the ruling. For the next twenty four years, basic human rights were continuously denied nationwide in cases similar to Baker v. Nelson and in anti-gay attempts to restrict homosexual marriage. Eventually, there showed signs of hope such as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in May, 1996 and Massachusetts becoming the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in December, 1996. In relatively recent news, the LGBTQ community celebrated a monumental win as the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage a constitutional right for Americans nationwide. On the 25th of June, 2015, many rejoiced this new ruling. Unfortunately, just as many were disgusted at the new legislation. The topic of marriage equality is a unique controversy due to the fact that it gathers so many strong opinions to the cause from many different walks of life.

The argument brought before the Supreme Court was to eliminate the ban on same sex marriage that was still held by thirteen states. This was done as part of a lawsuit called Obergefell versus Hodges. Court documents outline that, “14 same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners are deceased, filed suits in Federal District Courts in their home States, claiming that respondent state officials violate the Fourteenth Amendment by denying them the right to marry or to have marriages lawfully performed in another State given full recognition.” (United States Court of Appeals)

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.”

In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA specified that the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman. This federal law was passed to prevent gay couples from nationalizing gay marriage by using Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution, which states,

Baker v. Nelson was a court case that took place in 1971-1972. In the years leading up to this there had been many quietly handled issues regarding homosexuals rights, however they decided to start becoming more public in 1971. The Supreme court ruled in this specific case that the constitution does not protect a fundamental right for same- sex couples to get married. (Denniston). It began when a man named Richard John Baker and his partner James Michael McConnell, applied to a court clerk to get a marriage license. The court clerk denied them and then they applied to the Supreme Court from there. Some people still say that this is a binding decision

Same sex or gay marriage is a topic that is always in the news these days. Well, a recent Supreme Court case's decision was to legalize this type of marriage here in the US. This essay will give a brief history of same sex marriages, summarize the legal reasoning of both the majority and dissent in the Supreme Court Decision and even evaluate how the media interpreted the decision.

Nelson. In 1972, two University of Minnesota students of the same-sex applied for marriage. Their request was denied because of a state law that restricted marriage to “persons of opposite sex”. The couple filed a lawsuit against the marriage clerk that denied their request, Gerald Nelson. The coupled stated that the denial violated their due process and equal protection rights granted in the Fourteenth Amendment and their privacy right granted in the First and Ninth Amendments (Scarinci, 2012). The couple also tried using the precedent of the Loving v. Virginia case of 1967, which allowed interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia, n.d.). The lower court upheld the denial, and when brought to the Supreme Court, the denial remained upheld. The Courts believed there was no correlation between couples of the same-sex, and couples of different races (Scarinci, 2012).

“Marco Rubio is running for President, pledging a constitutional amendments to define marriage between a man and a women, that scares me,” Pruter said. “Constitutional amendments are incredible hard to overturn so if that get passed that’s another fifty –sixty years that the LGBT community has been taken back.”

As said by Lucy A. Hawke, the women “were restricted to the home to provide childcare and attend to household duties” while the males got to “work as breadwinner, to be the achiever”(Article 23, 1). This made female civil rights advocates upset and they began to fight for the rights they deserve, which triggered a change in the definition of marriage. Making women want to be considered equals in the matter of their partnership considered marriage. In 1967 at the rearing end of segregation, interracial marriage became legalized after a heated battle of Loving vs. Virginia which ended in a win towards interracial marriage because of the Equal Protection Clause. It states “that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of the laws””. That everyone’s rights are protected so why aren’t homosexuals. The first case documented on the issue of same-sex marriage was Baker vs. Nelson. It was a marriage application filed by two gay rights advocates who were students at the University of Minnesota. The clerk denied the application based on a state law that restricted marriage to because they were the

The Lgbt community has historically has been ostracized simply because of their sexual sexual preference. They are still denied the right to marry in certain states. Social security benefits has continued to be controversial. Recently transgender individuals using public restrooms has created an outrage. Finally in the following essay, i will discuss where the lgbt community will find a place in the trump administration also homosexuality and discrimination.

Since 1971 when the first same sex couple Richard John Baker and James Michael McConnell applied for a marriage license and were denied in the Baker vs. Nelson ruling, America has been forced to debate whether homosexuals should be allowed to be married even though they are not the classical definition of a couple. There are many opinions about this subject from government officials, religious leaders and even the president of the United States. Homosexuals should be allowed to be married because they need to be treated fairly and equally.

The nation watched the progress of the LGBT rights movement unfold right before its eyes in June 2015 when the Supreme Court decided, in Obergefell v. Hodges, that same-sex marriage bans were in violation of the US Constitution. The road to the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage was a long and arduous one, but worthwhile for thousands of same-sex couples across the United States. With tensions high on both sides, Obergefell v. Hodges addressed long disputed constitutional questions, such as the roles of state and federal governments and the extent of the 14th amendment. In the end, this controversial case reaffirmed marriage as a fundamental right protected by the 14th amendment, which the Supreme Court ruled extends to opposite-sex