The Pros and Cons for Gay Marriages from Schmeg.com

   

God vs. Civil Rights

The issue of gay marriage has been on the political and social forefront in recent years. This year, the Massachusetts Supreme Court handed down the Goodrich Decision, named after a lesbian couple that brought it forth, which legalizes same sex marriage. The Goodrichs had been a couple for sixteen years; however, without the state's legal recognition of their relationship, they were ineligible for social and economic advantages afforded to married heterosexual couples. After applying for and being denied a marriage license in 2003 by their home state of Massachusetts, they filed suit against the state and won.

Though Massachusetts may currently be alone in allowing full legal marriages between same-sex couples, several other states offer limited recognition of same-sex couples. In 2000, Vermont created the legal status of civil unions, signed into law by former Governor Howard Dean, which grants same-sex couples "access to state level marriage benefits."

Minnesota currently does not legally recognize same-sex relationships in any way and has adopted The Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as state law.

President Bill Clinton signed DOMA into law in 1996. There was a dual purpose for DOMA. First, to define the word marriage as the "legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife," and the word spouse as "a husband or wife of the opposite sex." Second, DOMA gives states the right not to recognize same-sex marriages preformed in other states. Thirty-nine states have adopted DOMA as state law or amended their constitutions to include various forms of DOMA.

In response to the Goodrich Decision, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) recently proposed the Federal Marriage Amendment. The Federal Marriage Amendment is a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage, so the courts will not be able to overturn state and federal laws banning gay marriage as unconstitutional.

The Republican Party and the Bush Administration needs to appease its far-right, conservative base of voters. These people tend to be strongly religious and extremely opposed to same-sex marriage of any kind, including civil unions. Vice President Dick Cheney and former Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephart have both publicly stated their opposition to same-sex marriage. Ironically, both men have openly gay daughters.

According to The Economist magazine, "most Americans regard marriage as a religious institution," "were (or will be) married in a religious ceremony," and most of these religious organizations are opposed to the idea of same-sex marriage. Given these facts, it is not hard to understand why the majority of Americans (approximately two thirds) oppose gay marriage.

However, tolerance and acceptance of the issue is on the rise. Around 32 percent of Americans have little or no problem with gay relationships. This is nearly a triple percent increase since 1973, with the majority of public support coming from people under thirty years old. Of those thirty and younger, about half of tend to be in favor of legalizing gay marriage.

Yet, the issue of same-sex marriage is far from over. Although the Federal Marriage Amendment will probably not succeed, DOMA will likely be challenged in the courts, under the 5th and 14th Constitutional Amendments which "guarantee equal protection under the law" and require states to honor "the public acts and judicial proceedings" of another state. Most likely this will occur once a same-sex couple gets married in Massachusetts and is then denied those rights in their home state.

Both sides of this issue are passionate in their resolve. Opponents see gay marriage as a religious issue that would shake the foundation of society to its core. Proponents see it as a civil rights issue similar to woman's rights and equal rights for African Americans and minorities. But if this is a religious issue, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution separates the church from the state. Our government cannot legally pass a law based on a religious belief, no matter what the public opinion is.

This issue of same-sex marriage is important to resolve as a society. Do the American citizens really have equal rights under the law, regardless of the popularity of those rights? Are we willing to be judged by a religious standard, enforced by our government, regardless of our own beliefs and morals? How strong is our resolve as a nation to uphold the constitution even when it produces unpopular results? This is not the first time questions such as these have arisen. However, the answers will continue to help define the United States as both a nation and a people.