Gay Marriage Is Legal, but We’re Still Not Equal

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL, BUT WE’RE STILL NOT EQUAL
• GAY MARRIAGE
• CONGRS NSIRS DIFYG SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AFTER LONG BATTLE FOR GAY RIGHTS
• SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?
• US SUPREME COURT L GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL NATNWI
• GAY MARRIAGE DON’T EQUAL EQUALY. HERE ARE 5 THGS STILL TO FIGHT FOR

GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL, BUT WE’RE STILL NOT EQUAL

When Print Barack Obama threw his admistratn’s support behd a challenge to Proposn 8, the gay-marriage ban enacted by California voters 2008, his Jtice Department troduced what amounted to a bizarre promise. Proposed that the Supreme Court le that stat like California, which had extend gay men’s and lbians’ “marriage le” alternativ like domtic partnership or civil unn, were vlatn of the nstutnal prohibn agast “separate but equal”—but was fe to offer no regnn at all. But a simultaneo lg by the urt that the Defense of Marriage Act was unnstutnal dramatilly changed gay-rights ligators’ view of what was possible.

Acrdg to the urt’s applitn of the equal-protectn clse, such a termatn would subject not only the marriage bans but a whole range of feral, state and lol laws that disadvantaged gay men and lbians (and possibly transgenred people, as well) to a higher level of judicial scty. Yet Jtice Anthony Kennedy, who had prevly wrten three watershed opns that had helped to tablish the full cizenship of gay men and lbians, had nsistently cled to see the s on those terms.

He knew he was wrg for history, and that passage immediately adorned merchandise—to this day Etsy remas filled wh posters and noterds featurg Kennedy’s words—and is now often read at weddg ceremoni for both straight and gay upl. While a feral urt ced Obergefell 2016 as a basis to strike down Mississippi’s ban on adoptn by gay upl, s impact has been barely felt areas beyond fay law.

GAY MARRIAGE

Clayton County, the Supreme Court led that gay men, lbians, bisexual and transgenr people uld already not be nied work based on the law’s cln of “sex” as a basis on which employment discrimatn was prohibed. If someone told me 10 years ago the gay-rights movement would face a fight over baked goods, I would have lghed at someone who has fought for LGBT equaly for the past dozen years, I have seen and heard some of the uglit, most disgraceful acts of hatred mted agast people simply bee of who they are, or who they love. They’ve been ma to feel low, shameful, and ls than human—all bee they liked girls stead of boys or boys stead of girls, or their genr inty didn’t match the one they were assigned at ’ve e a long way sce the days when beg gay meant a life of plete and utter rejectn and social isolatn.

Beg told by a public-servg bs, cludg a weddg venue, a baker, or a florist, that they won’t provi servic for weddgs of same-sex upl is another form of marriage discrimatn, where same-sex upl ntue to get sgled out for someone told me 10 years ago the gay-rights movement would be fightg over the right to get weddg k, I would have lghed bee the right to marry seemed so far away. 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.

CONGRS NSIRS DIFYG SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AFTER LONG BATTLE FOR GAY RIGHTS

” 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. 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.

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.

SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?

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.

Phg for Change: Civil Unns The next saw a whirlwd of activy on the gay marriage ont, begng wh the year 2000 when Vermont beme the first state to legalize civil unns, a legal stat that provis most of the state-level benefs of years later, Massachetts beme the first state to legalize gay marriage when the Massachetts Supreme Court led that same-sex upl had the right to marry Goodridge v. 2004 was notable for upl many other stat as well, though for the oppose reason: Ten typilly nservative stat, along wh Oregon, enacted state-level bans on gay marriage.

US SUPREME COURT L GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL NATNWI

Kansas and Texas were next 2005, and 2006 saw seven more stat passg Constutnal amendments agast gay towards the end of the , gay marriage beme legal var stat, cludg Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (the first state to approve by legislative means) and New Hampshire.

GAY MARRIAGE DON’T EQUAL EQUALY. HERE ARE 5 THGS STILL TO FIGHT FOR

Domtic Partnerships Throughout the and the begng of the next, California equently ma headl for seawg on the gay marriage state was the first to pass a domtic partnership statute 1999, and legislators tried to pass a same-sex marriage bill 2005 and 2007.