SameSex Marriages Essay Research Paper Samesex couples

Same-Sex Marriages Essay, Research Paper

Same-sex couples should be given the same marriage/union rights as heterosexual couples, on both the state and Federal levels. With ten percent of the population in the United States being homosexuals, they should have the same rights at the other ninety percent of the population.

According to a 2000 national poll, three-quarters of the United States population say that it is inevitable that same-sex couples will be allowed to marry (Lambda/VP Candidates, October 2000). An NBC poll taken in 1999 showed that two-thirds of the population believed that same-sex couples would eventually win the freedom to marry (Lambda/National Overview, May 2000). Between the 1999 poll and the 2000 poll there was an 8.3 percent increase in those who thought same-sex couples would some day be allowed to marry.

There are currently no states that have legalized marriages between same-sex couples. Hawaii and Vermont allow domestic partnerships and San Francisco is one of the few cities that recognize domestic partnerships when there state does not. Domestic partnerships are misinterpreted and misrepresented as a marriage. Domestic partner-ships are mainly for an economic and workplace issue. If employed in a city that recognizes domestic partnerships, it is possible to get health care coverage for your live in lover if it is needed or wanted, however only about one percent of those who are eligible (GFN/Investigation Domestic Partner Benefits, April 2000) take advantage of it. Once an employee signs up for domestic partner benefits they pay higher city, state and federal taxes on their benefits, unlike heterosexual couples that get the same benefits tax-free. The Internal Revenue Service requires employers to report domestic partner benefits as part of an employee s taxable income, causing same-sex couples to pay taxes on $4000 to $5000 more than heterosexual couples do. It does not seem right that because a couple is of the same-sex that they are unable to get health care that heterosexual couples are able to, and when they are they are taxed on them unjustly. It seems that our great country, known to foreigners at the land of freedom has, at various, times prevented other minorities from the institution of marriage. Up until 1967 it was illegal in various states for interracial couples to marry, yet that was found un-constitutional. Marriage, for many people, is more than just a legal union for economic and employee benefits. Marriage is also a celebration of love and commit between two people, no matter what there genders are.

Even though our constitution says the church and state are separate, religion plays a major role in the acceptance, or lack there of, for same-sex marriages. It is thought that if more religions accepted and endorsed same-sex marriages, then the government would be more likely too. In April 2000 the nations Reform Jewish rabbis became the first group of mainstream American clergy to endorse same-sex marriages. Rabbi Paul Meritaff, who is vice president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, said, This kind of resolution being passed by a major religious group will send a signal that will be important to Jewish gays and lesbians and beyond, a signal that they are not viewed as sinful, but as normal, healthy people, (GFN/Reform Rabbis, March 2000) about the endorsement of same-sex marriages by Reform Jewish rabbis. The Unitarian Universalist Association endorsed same-sex couple in 1996 (GFN/Reform Rabbis, March 2000). Reconstructionist Judaism and the United Church of Christ endorse same-sex marriages on a case-by-case basis.

The United States, usually in the for front with ground breaking laws, is behind on the issue of same-sex marriages and unions. There are only a few areas in the United Sates wear same-sex couples can get a civil union or domestic partnership, yet it is not a national thing, as of yet. Countries such as Denmark, including Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden all recognize domestic partnerships and allow for the immigration of a citizens foreign partner. Some other countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, recognize the value of a same-sex partnership and allow for the immigration of a partner. There are about twelve countries (Argentina, Brazil, France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Israel, South Africa and the United States) that do show some encouraging developments towards the recognition of same-sex partnerships. (GFN/International Same-sex Marriage, July 1999)

The most devastating action against same-sex marriages or partnerships came in September of 1996 when Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The DOMA basically denies protection, benefits and recognition for all federal purposes to lawfully married gay couples, however it doesn t bar states from allowing same-sex couples to marry or have partnerships within that state s laws. (Lambda/Baehr V Anderson Case History, December 1999) Section 2 of the DOMA is one of the most controversial and widely protested section. Section 2 of the DOMA is in direct violation of the Full Faint and Credit Clause (Article IV, Section 1) of the United States Constitution. Article IV, Section 1 states, Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the pubic acts, record, And judicial proceedings of every other state Yet Section 2 of the DOMA stat