Pros And Cons Of Marriage Equality

Same-sex marriage or more formally known as gay marriage, is the marriage between two people of the same sex. In Australia it’s illegal, marriage in Australia is “the voluntary union, entered into for life, of one man and one women to the exclusion of all others” (Marriage Act 1961). In some states in the USA it is legal for example Colorado, California and New York. In Australia same-sex couples have no access to marriage, civil unions or other federal relationship registration. Same sex couples can be recognised as de facto couples. Same-sex couples are prevented from marrying by the amendments to the Marriage Act 1961, passed in 2004 by the Howard Government, Labor party. However same-sex couples who are married in countries where same-sex is legal cannot divorce within Australia due to the same-sex marriage ban. At the federal level, in 2008 and 2009, there was a wide-ranging suite of reforms to provide equal entitlements and responsibilities for same-sex couples, This includes social security, employment, taxation and superannuation. Tony Abbott has traditionally opposed same-sex marriage, and in 2012 parliament had debates on the same-sex marriage bills, in the election campaign, Abbott reaffirmed that he would not support legislation to allow gay marraige.

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)

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

Since America was founded, heterosexual marriages have been the only legal way to get a marital licence and be considered by the government and the state legally married. However, in 1970 Richard Baker and Michael McConnell applied for a marital licence and were denied because they were both of a male gender. In turn, the couple sued the man who denied their marriage, and it traveled all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and they still lost. This was the first ever record of a homosexual couple fighting the government for the right of same sex marriage. The battle grew and grew, becoming more popular until they came to the Supreme Court for one last appeal. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that all 50 states must allow a couple of

On June 26, 2015 the United States Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges was decided. The Court held in a 5-4 decision that the “fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” In making this decision, the Court overturned its decision in Baker v. Nelson which had been invoked as precedent (28).

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.”

The right to same sex marriage has been involved within the Constitution as part of Amendments V, VIII, and XV. Marriage is both global and central. All across our country, in every region, every social class, every race and ethnicity, every religion or non-religion, people get married. Same sex marriage was a division of social and political. An example of a court case dealing with same sex marriage is Baehr v. Lewin. In 1993, Hawaii’s high court issues first-of-a-kind ruling that a barrier to marriage is discrimination, launching the freedom to marry movement. Three years later in 1996, a full trial took place and was decided that the same-sex couples are entitled to marriage licenses. Later in 1998, Hawaii amends its constitution with regard to marriage by exempting same-sex couples from protection of equality guarantee, giving legislature the power to define marriage as limited to a man and a woman. However, a year later in 1999, Baehr v. Lewin Hawaii’s high court rules that Hawaii’s constitution no longer protects lesbian and gay individuals with regard to their freedom to marry. As in today, some states in the United States did not approve the right for same sex marriage. On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to force same-sex marriage on all 50 states. According to the Supreme Court Justice page, “The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that there is a federal constitutional right to

With roots in Christianity, the United States has a history of hostile viewpoints towards same-sex relationships. The legality of same-sex marriages did not surface until the 1970s. The first and most well known issue that rose regarding same-sex marriages happened on May 18th, 1970, two men tried for a marriage license in Heppenin County, Minnesota. The Minnesota Supreme Court refused to issue the license saying it violated common law ("The History of the Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage"). The Court stated that marriage must only be granted between a man and a woman. “In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court overruled the state 's statutes that limited marriages to opposite sex couples by citing it unconstitutional without compelling evidence” ("The History of the Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage"). While this initially seemed like a step in the right direction for same-sex relationships, in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),

Today’s culture is filled with romantic movies, novels, and songs telling us that “All You Need is Love.” Due to this popular sentiment, many people view marriage as merely a public expression of the eternal love between two people, and because of this it does not matter who that love is between. Whether it is a homosexual or heterosexual relationship, according to society, all that should be required for marriage is love. Unfortunately, however, marriage is not that simple or solely emotional. Marriage is a centuries old institution designed to legally unite two people (“Marriage”), and because of this, what a government allows marriage to be legally defined as has a significant impact on society. The definition of marriage can affect everything from population to the overall emotional health of society to finances. When the benefits of marriage are analyzed from such a logical standpoint, it begs the question: “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” There are multiple views on this controversial subject. The main differences in the views of gay marriage stem from how various philosophies view the institution of marriage itself, with utilitarians utilizing it as a tool to benefit society as a whole, Aristotle requiring marriage’s purpose to be identified before any decisions are made, and libertarians allowing anyone to get married, as someone else’s marriage does not truly affect the rest of the population.