Should Gay Marriage Be Legal? 6 Pros and Cons

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]
• GAY MARRIAGE
• STATE-BY-STATE HISTORY OF BANNG AND LEGALIZG GAY MARRIAGE
• SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?
• WHAT IS THE STATE OF GAY MARRIAGE THE US?
• STAT ACROSS U.S. STILL CLG TO OUTDATED GAY MARRIAGE BANS
• GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL ALL 50 STAT: SUPREME COURT

GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]

Dpe this, not all stat are abidg and have enacted nstutnal or statutory bans on gay marriage known as “Defense of Marriage” acts. In a landmark cisn, the ne jtic of the US Supreme Court led that the US Constutn guarante marriage as a right for all, cludg gay and lbian upl. Wrg for the urt, Jtice Kennedy said gay and lbian upl have a fundamental right to marry: “no unn is more profound than marriage, for embodi the hight ials of love, fily, votn, sacrifice, and fay, ” he wrote.

Comparg that evolutn to society's views of gays and lbians, Kennedy noted that for years, "a tthful claratn by same-sex upl of what was their hearts had to rema unspoken. Together, they volve a dozen upl who challenged same-sex marriage bans Oh, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennsee — the only stat wh bans on marriage between gay and lbian upl that had been staed by a feral appeals urt. Before Friday's lg, gay marriage had already been ma legal 37 stat and the District of Columbia — by eher legislative or voter actn or by feral urts that overturned state' bans.

As NPR's Na Totenberg reported when the Supreme Court heard the current se back April, nservative jtic had poted qutns for the attorneys: "Jtice Slia asked whether misters would be able to refe to marry two gay men. The urt noted the change thkg, statg: "Well to the 20th century, many Stat nmned same-sex timacy as immoral, and homosexualy was treated as an illns.

GAY MARRIAGE

Qutns about the legal treatment of gays and lbians soon reached the urts, where they uld be discsed the formal disurse of the law. 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.

STATE-BY-STATE HISTORY OF BANNG AND LEGALIZG GAY MARRIAGE

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.

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.

SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?

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.

WHAT IS THE STATE OF GAY MARRIAGE THE US?

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. The state fally troduced the untry to gay marriage (m the feral benefs) when began issug same-sex marriage licens on May 17, that year, the U.

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. 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.

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. Perry legalized same-sex marriage early 2010s ntued the state-level battl over gay marriage that fed the precedg , wh at least one notable event.

STAT ACROSS U.S. STILL CLG TO OUTDATED GAY MARRIAGE BANS

For the first time the untry’s history, voters (rather than judg or legislators) Mae, Maryland, and Washgton approved Constutnal amendments permtg same-sex marriage marriage also beme a feral issue 2010, Massachetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, found Sectn 3 of DOMA—the part of the 1996 law that fed marriage as a unn between one man and one woman—to be unnstutnal. Wdsor, nservative Jtice Anthony Kennedy sid wh Jtic Ruth Bar Gsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately makg gay marriage legal across the natn June this time, was still outlawed only 13 stat, and more than 20 other untri had already legalized gay marriage, startg wh the Netherlands December 2000.

3, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court orred the state’s 68 probate judg to stop issug marriage licens to same-sex upl, spe an earlier feral urt lg that stck down the state’s gay marriage ban, and the US Supreme Court’s cisn to allow same-sex marriag to proceed the state. Stat where gay marriage bans had been overturned, but where appeals were progrs prr to the June 26, 2015 Supreme Court lg.

GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL ALL 50 STAT: SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court effectively halted gay marriag om takg place, however, by notg that while Judge Piazza’s lg had stck down both the nstutnal amendment and the state law, had not affected an addnal state law prohibg unty clerks om issug same-sex marriage licens.

On May 15, 2014, Judge Piazza expand his lg to strike down the addnal law and any other measur that ma gay marriage illegal, but on May 16, 2014 the State Supreme Court spend that lg, haltg all gay marriag wh the state. 25, 2014, US District Judge Kriste Baker led the state’s gay marriage ban unnstutnal, but stayed her own lg, pendg expected appeals. 6, 2014, a three-judge panel of the Sixth US Circu Court of Appeals overturned Judge Heyburn’s lg 2-1, th upholdg the state’s gay marriage ban.