Gay Marriage
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Same Sex Marriage Amendment
Same Sex Marriage should be legalized in the United States. There are over 1,049 federal rights and also over 300 state rights (depending on what state) that couples receive when they become offical married of many of which are denied to people in civil unions. One of the most hypocritical statements in the constitution is that it specifically written that marriage is limited only between a man and women when it dictates equality of all genders. Obviously since the goverment has set up so many barriers against gay marriage its only logical that gay americans are also being treated as low-class citizens which was similiar to the time when people of different races could not marry in the U.S. Simply put, United States is a country that has devoted itself to equality and freedom, therefore, when the illegalization of gay marriage occurs, the government itself is encroaching upon the rights and freedoms of gay people that they themselves supposedly uphold due to popular opinion.
Civil unions (also known as domestic partnership) are, in respect, the same thing as a marriage between two people except it was intentionally created as a institution for gay americans who wanted same-sex marriage. Although this seems as a nice alternative to an actual marriage, this also constitutes that there is something unequal upon marriage and civil unions relating to the “brown vs board” case in which segregrated facilities or institutions were defined as inherently unequal. The Defense of Marriage Act “provides definitions of “marriage” and “spouse” that are to be used in construing the meaning of a federal law and, thus, affect the interpretation of a wide variety of federal laws in which marital status is a factor”, basically stating that gay couples do not have any federal rights afforded to married couples. Some of the inequalities that the institution of civil union have to face are that other states do not have to reconize that the gay couple are in a civil union and ,therefore, legal strangers.
Civil unions also have to face the facts that they lose about over 1300 marital rights that, in comparison, people in civil marriages receive. At all times any where, the 1,049 federal rights for married couples apply to all states, where the state also has its own 300 or so rights that they apply to only people married under regular circumstances. This means that, if the state chooses, they can deny people in civil unions the right even to accompany their loved ones in the ambulance or even not being able to sue for a loved ones wrongful death. An example of this is a loss of consortium. A loss of consortium is a suit where the plaintiff sues because his or her spouse cannot “provide emotional, physical, financial, or even sexual support. The Sharon Smith case occured in Jan of 2001, where a dog brutally attacked Sharons spouse, Diane, and killed her. Sharon could not sue because in the state that the couple were living in they were not legally married and could not receive the right to a loss of consortium. Although tragedies do occur, sweeping changes have started to show when a judge was moved by Sharons plea and allowed her to file suit. Though this incident was a victory for getting closer to same-sex marriage it does not constitute the fact that the State can totally deny all marital rights to homosexuals in civil unions because of The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was signed into law in 1996 by Bill Clinton.
Although the founding fathers were not in a time frame that even thought about homosexuality, it still shows the blatant and unneccessary bias against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders (LGBT) because the constitution states that the only limiting factor for marriage is that both parties are of the opposite sex, not for love, nor procreation, nor companionship, and etc. The constitution also does not say ANYTHING about whether the sexual orientation of people will affect any of their rights. In the 5th amendment it states that, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” By not allowing LGBT to marry, the government is in clear violation of the 5th amendment because they are deprived of their rights to the due process of the law of choosing whoever they want to marry whether they are male or female.
In the preamble 2.1 of the constitution its states that the U.S. ,” hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. The equality between straight and gay americans in the preamble is stated very clearly. Therefore, if all men and women are created equal and are allowed to have inalienable rights such as marriage, the government is then obstructing the peoples path of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Some of these of obstructions often and encroach upon some of the amendments of the bill of rights. This statement of defiance against the marriage of LGBT by the government shows the inane laws that represent the discriminatory opinions and (supposed) marital traditions of America.
“Full access + full marriage rights = full citizenship”(kotulski p.27) according to kotulski, is the key to equality amongst LGBT and the rest of America. Like most other Americans, LGBT people also want to marry their loved ones. Unfortunately for many LGBT couples in a civil union or a domstic partnership are stuck in a perpetual state of dating and are not considered family but again, as legal strangers. This brings into light some of the mistreatment that people in LGBT relationships go through. According to Kotuski in “Why you should give a damn about gay marriage p.85”, a private company would absolutely love to hire more LGBT employees then the average straight joe because
LGBT are statistically more hardworking
The private company looks very progressive if they hire (attracting more support)
LGBT domestic partners are denied access to family employment benefits such as sick leave, health insurance benefits, life insurance, adoption assistance, disability benefits, and support to one spouse when the other spouse is relocated for work because the company can save money
These actions are legal depending on if the state reconizes the LGBT domestic partership. Unfortunately, 38 states uphold the (DOMA) and the private company