Essay About Financial Responsibility And Sex Marriage

Gay Marriage
Essay title: Gay Marriage
Constitutionality of Same Sex Marriage in the United States
The proposed legalization of same-sex marriage is one of the most
significant issues in contemporary American family law. Presently, it
is one of the most vigorously advocated reforms discussed in law
reviews, one of the most explosive political questions facing
lawmakers, and one of the most provocative issues emerging before
American courts. If same-sex marriage is legalized, it could be one of
the most revolutionary policy decisions in the history of American
family law. The potential consequences, positive or negative, for
children, parents, same-sex couples, families, social structure public
health, and the status of women are enormous. Given the importance of
the issue, the value of comprehensive debate of the reasons for and
against legalizing same-sex marriage should be obvious. Marriage is
much more than merely a commitment to love one another. Aside from
societal and religious conventions, marriage entails legally imposed
financial responsibility and legally authorized financial benefits.
Marriage provides automatic legal protections for the spouse,
including medical visitation, succession of a deceased spouses
property, as well as pension and other rights. When two adults desire
to “contract” in the eyes of the law, as well a perhaps promise in the
eyes of the Lord and their friends and family, to be responsible for
the obligations of marriage as well as to enjoy its benefits, should
the law prohibit their request merely because they are of the same
gender? I intend to prove that because of Article IV of the United
States Constitution, there is no reason why the federal government nor
any state government should restrict marriage to a predefined
heterosexual relationship.
Marriage has changed throughout the years. In Western law, wives are
now equal rather than subordinate partners; interracial marriage is
now widely accepted, both in statute and in society; and marital
failure itself, rather than the fault of one partner, may be grounds
for a divorce. Societal change have been felt in marriages over the
past 25 years as divorce rates have increased and have been integrated
into even upper class families. Proposals to legalize same-sex
marriage or to enact broad domestic partnership laws are currently
being promoted by gay and lesbian activists, especially in Europe and
North America. The trend in western European nations during the past
decade has been to increase legal aid to homosexual relations and has
included marriage benefits to some same-sex couples. For example,
within the past six years, three Scandinavian countries have enacted
domestic partnership laws allowing same-sex couples in which at least
one partner is a citizen of the specified country therefore allowing
many benefits that heterosexual marriages are given. In the
Netherlands, the Parliament is considering domestic partnership status
for same-sex couples, all major political parties favor recognizing
same-sex relations, and more than a dozen towns have already done so.
Finland provides governmental social benefits to same-sex partners.
Belgium allows gay prisoners the right to have