Legalization of Gay Marriage in America

Domestic Policy: Legalization of Gay Marriage in America
Texas State Technical College

Gay marriage has been legalized in 9 states and the District of Columbia (Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington, and New York .) (Vestal, 2009)
Policies had being made to support the equality among people to have marriage statues without being discriminated by their sexual orientation, although most are not what had traditionally has been called as “marriage”. Only the previous mentioned stated have issued marriage licenses to same sex-couple, while Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island allow civil unions
One of the cons of the policy is that the uncertainty of the monogamy of homosexual couples, the fear that allowing this kind of unions will lead to interspecies marriages. The biggest fear though is that the traditionalism of the definition of marriage between a man and a woman would get lost (Marry, 2009).
People that fight for the acceptance of same-sex marriage benefits, argue that what they are asking it is just the same rights as the heterosexual couples have; and that by not giving the same benefits, they are being discriminated.
The first gay rights movement in the US began late one night in New York City at the Stonewall Inn following a police raid in 1969. From there on by the 70s the gay-rights activism fought for personal liberation and acceptance, since by the time the acceptance of the majority was not with the activist (Smith, 2006). The fight of the activists paid off when by 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder (Kaiser, 2002).
Years after the gay community started to be more open about their status, the topic about same sex marriage came to float when in 1993 Hawaii’s Supreme Court had a 3-1 ruling saying that the state couldn’t ban same-sex marriage without “a compelling reason” to do so. The process was then obstructed since before the ruling, the people voted for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. This event attracted the attention of the people that believed in equality for all, but it also from the people that oppose (Vestal, 2009). These second ones responded in the next ten years with the Defense of Marriage Acts (DOMAs) that literally defined that at the federal level, marriage is between a man and a woman; when Bill Clinton came into office, he sing the (DOMAs) into a law. The new law not only limited the marriage to be between a man and a woman, it also ensures that same-sex couples wouldn’t receive federal benefits given by heterosexual married couples (Marry, 2009).
In response of the law, years after in Vermont, same-sex couples were entitle by the same benefits as heterosexual couples under civil unions. This was accomplished by the Vermont Supreme Court unanimous rule in Baker v. Vermont 1999. Although this was a huge step for the gay community, it lead to a major goal which was marriage. Four years after the ruling in Vermont, in Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court allow same-sex marriage. By 2004 the first legally recognize marriage in the US was celebrated by women in Cambridge. Even when this part event in 2004 brought a lot of hope, by then four states had also had banned gay marriages and by 2010, the number of states with constitutional bans when up to 30 (Bonauto, 2005).
The support from the public towards the gay community has increase by the pass of the years when the community gets more culturally diverse and with an open mind day by day by the elimination of myths and old stereotypes about the homosexual community. In interviews by CNN held from May 29-31, 2012 resulted in 54% of the support that gay marriage “should be recognized as valid;” showing an increase in people supporting since 2008 when only 44% of the participants agreed (CNN, 2012).
After many years DOMA was ruled unconstitutional by a Boston court. A Wall Street Journal reported that the court said that the 1996 law banning same-sex marriages target a minority groups. The case although it didn’t let the gay-marriage movement going back; it dint push it more forward to make it a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, the polemic is still very divided by the two opposite groups (Goddard, 2012).
In 2011 President Barak Obama announces its support for same sex-marriage by saying "At a certain point I've just concluded that, for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married (O'Brien, 2012);" and supported a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA,) arguing that it may violate the protection all citizens have as being equal over the Fifth Amendment (Goddard, 2012).
Most of the arguments that have lead to the slow reformation of gay-marriage laws in all the states and limiting the benefits of the spouse in states where is already legal cover many points, from religious to economical reasons.
The most traditionalist focus mainly in that according to religious beliefs and their own, the definition of marriage has always been between a man and a woman; including procreation that will lead to a family as it is, but if gay marriage becomes legal, this family structure will be damage by denying a father or a mother to a child under their care altering society in negative ways. It’s also thought that it is evil by violation the Natural Law, and that it can lead to un-natural marriages like incest, pedophilia, and bestiality (Action, 2012).
It is also a concern to some conservatives since the gay-marriage movement is not only fighting for the right to get married, but for the benefits that this includes. So, people that disagree in these policies would be paying taxes to support a cause that they see as wrong. If same sex-couples enjoyed from the same benefits according to the Congressional Budget Office of 2009, additional cost of Social Security would be 596 million in mandatory spending between 2010 and 2019 (Office, 2009)
As stated before traditionalist fear of the family structure and based their preferences in studies that the optimal environment for the development of children is by having both: a father and a mother. The matter has being research by many psychologists, but there has been results that supported both sides of the dilemma. The subject is also sustains that same-sex marriage is not a civil right, since “the constitution guaranteed equal treatment among all citizens, it does not talk about marriage, family, business enterprise, university, or friendship. (Skillen, 2004)” By allowing a person to let them choose their sexual preferences is respecting their guaranteed to equal treatment, but marriage is a different institution since by not allowing a underage to get married is not violating her rights, or when the law doesn’t recognizes any club as a church, neither the is when a student is denied at a college because the student is not qualified.
After reviewing the cons, we can start with the opinion of sympathizers. The first argument that comes in hand is that marriage is a personal decision and that dying them is a violation of religious freedom and minority discrimination among a group. this denying also labels same-sex couples as inferior and sex an example to future generations that is acceptable to discriminate against any group by putting them as a second-class citizens.
With the concern of alterations in family structure, if family structure, if we see history there has never been one kind of ideal family, it has depended on the time, place a culture; like when polygamy, then use of mistresses was common. Also by legalizing the marriage a new door is open, as the policies continue expanding to all states and identifying as marriages and not merely as unions it allows same-sex couples to adopt and create a well-adaptive happy family and giving home to part of the 100,000 children that are waiting to be adopted (Patterson 2010).
Gay marriages can also help by bringing financial gain to the states and local governments from marriage licenses, and decreases in costs from state benefit programs.
Allowing same-sex couple to get married benefits will also bring them access to basic rights like medical insurance, hospital visitation during illness, child custody in protection to the other spouse in case one of the moms was a carrier, or one of the fathers was the donor. there are many stories of seeing how hard it was to be an homosexual couple and pass through a situation where the merely right to see their spouse was denied in the ICE, or the permission to ne there and support their spouse when they had an accident or tragedy were the right to see them was denied since those rights are not protected in some states.
Finally, we live in America and marriage is an institution that has been changing in the long run with many new opportunities s of equality among all groups of minority, not only in races but in all aspects.
Policies that allow gay marriages should be expanded by the government so we all get the same warranties, and not being discriminated for our sexual orientation since it is not harmful to anybody in society.

Reference

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Goddard, T. (2012, May 31). Taegan Goddard Political Wire. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from DOMA ruled uncostitional: http://politicalwire.com/archives/gay-marriage/
Kaiser. (2002, November 12). Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from Thefreelibrary.com The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine): http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+APA+decision+December+1973%3A+declassification+of+homosexuality+as...-a094598255
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Office, C. B. (2009, December 19). Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009. Retrieved 12 2012, November
Skillen, J. W. (2004, May). Public Justice.org. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from Same-Sex "Marriage" Is Not a Civil Right: http://www.cpjustice.org/stories/storyReader$1178
Smith, W. A. (2006, May). Wasm.us. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from Wasm.us/stonewal: http://wasm.us/stonewall.htm
Vestal, C. (2009, June 4). pewstates.org. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from Gay marriage legal in six states(2): http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/gay-marriage-legal-in-six-states2-85899384844