Gay Marriage: Theologil and Moral Arguments - Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE: THEOLOGIL AND MORAL ARGUMENTS
• GAY MARRIAGE
• MORALY OR EQUALY? IOLOGIL AMG NEWS VERAGE OF GAY MARRIAGE LEGIMIZATN
• GAY MARRIAGE AND ETHIL THEORI
• GAY MARRIAGE AND THE MORALY OF ALL
• WING THE CIRCLE OF HUMAN OBLIGATN: MORALY, HYPOCRISY, AND GAY MARRIAGE
• 1. THE SUPREME COURT CISN, THE OPN POLLS AND THE PUBLIC PERCEPTN ON GAY AND LBIAN RIGHTS THE U.S.

GAY MARRIAGE: THEOLOGIL AND MORAL ARGUMENTS

What has grown is a much greater acceptance of gays and lbians our culture, as well as the social and enomic eedom for gays and lbians to emerge om the closet that has nfed them for so many generatns.

The recent addn of same sex mment ceremoni the Sunday New York Tim weddg and engagement announcements and the populary of shows as "Will and Grace" and "Queer Eye…" dite a shift our culture's attu toward gays and lbians. My tent was two-fold: first to ve stunts to dialogue wh people different om themselv; send, to work to elimate, whatever small way I uld, homophobic attus on our mp and our muny. My purpose today is not to support or fend gay and lbian marriag—ed, many gays and lbians do not want to marry—but simply suggt a theologil approach that might open up the possibily for greater Christian acceptance of, and eccliastil approval for, same sex unns.

Catholic sistence: one n uphold the digny of homosexual people while not upholdg their right-to-marry; no unjt discrimatn towards homosexuals is acceptable; they mt be treated wh rpect, and their rights fend. The Natnal Relig Learship Roundtable, which supported the multi-fah event on the steps of the San Francis Cy Hall scribed above, is nvened by the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force.

GAY MARRIAGE

Equal Employment Opportuny Commissn, se the movement for same-sex marriage an opportuny “to make the se for” the “normative moral equivalence” of “gay and heterosexual sex”—an argument, Profsor Feldblum observ, “that is hardly ever heard polil circl. Rutgers Law Profsor Carlos Ball believ that the stggle for “societal acceptance” of same-sex relatnships entails a “ontal attack” on the “eply held views of many Amerins regardg the (im)moraly of homosexualy.

MORALY OR EQUALY? IOLOGIL AMG NEWS VERAGE OF GAY MARRIAGE LEGIMIZATN

[30] The thors, who clu Profsors Feldblum and Ball, believe that “current advot for gay rights are not really engagg their opponents unls they are engaged wh the moral nature of their opponents’ views and arguments.

Scholars and the general public beme creasgly terted the issue durg the late 20th century, a perd when attus toward homosexualy and laws regulatg homosexual behavur were liberalized, particularly wtern Europe and the Uned issue of same-sex marriage equently sparked emotnal and polil clash between supporters and opponents. Relig and secular expectatns of marriage and sexualy Over time the historil and tradnal cultur origally rerd by the lik of Bachofen and Man slowly succumbed to the homogenizatn imposed by lonialism.

GAY MARRIAGE AND ETHIL THEORI

In other s, the cultural homogeney supported by the domant relign did not rult the applitn of doctre to the civic realm but may nohels have fostered a smoother seri of discsns among the cizenry: Belgium and Spa had legalized same-sex marriage, for stance, spe official opposn om their predomant relig stutn, the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the world religns have at some pots their histori opposed same-sex marriage for one or more of the followg stated reasons: homosexual acts vlate natural law or dive tentns and are therefore immoral; passag sacred texts nmn homosexual acts; and relig tradn regniz only the marriage of one man and one woman as valid. Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn.

” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups.

GAY MARRIAGE AND THE MORALY OF ALL

Though the gay rights movement saw some advancements the 1970s and 1980s—such as Harvey Milk beg the first openly gay man elected to public office the untry 1977—the fight for gay marriage ma ltle headway for many years.

WING THE CIRCLE OF HUMAN OBLIGATN: MORALY, HYPOCRISY, AND GAY MARRIAGE

In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners. C., 1993, the hight urt Hawaii led that a ban on same-sex marriage may vlate that state nstutn’s Equal Protectn Clse—the first time a state urt has ever ched toward makg gay marriage Hawaii Supreme Court sent the se—brought by a gay male uple and two lbian upl who were nied marriage licens 1990—back for further review to the lower First Circu Court, which 1991 origally dismissed the the state tried to prove that there was “pellg state tert” jtifyg the ban, the se would be tied up ligatn for the next three Defense of Marriage Act Opponents of gay marriage, however, did not s on their hnch.

1. THE SUPREME COURT CISN, THE OPN POLLS AND THE PUBLIC PERCEPTN ON GAY AND LBIAN RIGHTS THE U.S.

Congrs 1996 passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Print Bill Clton signed to didn’t ban gay marriage outright but specified that only heterosexual upl uld be granted feral marriage benefs. That is, even if a state ma gay marriage legal, same-sex upl still wouldn’t be able to file e tax jotly, sponsor spo for immigratn benefs or receive spoal Social Secury payments, among many other act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S.