California voters to be asked to affirm gay marriage on 2024 ballot - Los Angel Tim

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE
• CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT
• GAY MARRIAGE: THEOLOGIL AND MORAL ARGUMENTS
• CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR
• SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?
• COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL 2023
• HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE TIMELE

GAY MARRIAGE

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. 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.

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.

CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT

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. 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. 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. The se ma s way to the US Supreme Court, which dismissed an appeal 2013 over same-sex marriage on jurisdictnal grounds, lg private parti did not have standg to fend California’s voter-approved ballot measure barrg gay and lbian upl om state-sanctned wedlock.

Although there is no current threat to the legaly of gay marriage, and Print Bin signed a bill safeguardg last year, the Democratic-domant state Legislature is seekg to remove language om California’s Constutn that still f marriage as between a man and outdated state fn has been emed unenforceable and unnstutnal thanks to feral law, but LGBTQ advocy groups are askg voters to repeal and amend the California Constutn to stead explicly state that marriage is “a fundamental right. 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.

GAY MARRIAGE: THEOLOGIL AND MORAL ARGUMENTS

Slovenia 2022EuropeFirst untry formerly munist Eastern Europe to legalize same-sex Ai 2006Sub-Saharan AiOnly Ain untry where same-sex marriage is legal; several untri on the ntent have passed laws that ban homosexualy recent 2005EuropeBeme the third untry globally to legalize same-sex marriage after a vote s closely divid 2009EuropeGay and lbian upl Swen prevly had been allowed to register for civil unns sce 1995. 1%) st ballots favor of legalizg same-sex marriage a 2021 2019Asia-PacificA urt lg prompted a change the law that ma Taiwan the first jurisdictn Asia to perm gays and lbians to Kgdom 2014EuropeLegal same-sex marriage took effect Northern Ireland 2020, six years after the change England and Wal.

'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022. Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife.

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.

CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR

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.

SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?

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. On July 25, 2014 Miami-Da County Circu Court Judge Sarah Zabel led Florida’s gay marriage ban unnstutnal and stated that the ban “serv only to hurt, to discrimate, to prive same-sex upl and their fai of equal digny, to label and treat them as send-class cizens, and to em them unworthy of participatn one of the fundamental stutns of our society. The Amerin Psychologil Associatn, Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, and others nclud that legal gay marriage giv upl “accs to the social support that already facilat and strengthens heterosexual marriag, wh all of the psychologil and physil health benefs associated wh that support.

2016 printial ndidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fra stated that civil unns are aquate as an equivalent to marriage: “Benefs are beg btowed to gay upl [ civil unns]… I believe we need to rpect those who believe that the word marriage has a spirual foundatn… Why n’t we rpect and tolerate that while at the same time sayg ernment nnot btow benefs unequally.

Court papers filed July 2014 by attorneys fendg Arizona’s gay marriage ban stated that “the State regulat marriage for the primary purpose of channelg potentially procreative sexual relatnships to endurg unns for the sake of jog children to both their mother and their father… Same-sex upl n never provi a child wh both her blogil mother and her blogil father. Lee Badgett, PhD, Director of the Center for Public Policy and Admistratn at the Universy of Massachetts at Amherst, stated that for many gay activists “marriage means adoptg heterosexual forms of fay and givg up distctively gay fay forms and perhaps even gay and lbian culture. Queer activist Anrs Zanichkowsky stated June 2013 that the then mpaign for gay marriage “tentnally and malicly eras and exclus so many queer people and cultur, particularly trans and genr non-nformg people, poor queer people, and queer people non-tradnal fai… marriage thks non-married people are viant and not tly servg of civil rights.

COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL 2023

Matt Barber, Associate Dean for Onle Programs at Liberty Universy School of Law, stated, “Every dividual engaged the homosexual liftyle, who has adopted a homosexual inty, they know, tuively, that what they’re dog is immoral, unnatural, and self-stctive, yet they thirst for that affirmatn. A 2003 set of guil signed by Pope John Pl II stated: “There are absolutely no grounds for nsirg homosexual unns to be any way siar or even remotely analogo to God’s plan for marriage and fay… Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go agast the natural moral law. They clud Judh Kasen-Wdsor, widow of gay rights activist Edie Wdsor; Matthew Hayn, -owner of Club Q, the LGBTQ club Colorado Sprgs where a gunman last month killed five people a mass shootg; Club Q shootg survivors Jam Slgh and Michael Anrson; and a number of platiffs om s that culmated the landmark civil rights se Obergefell vs.

HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE

The vast majory of scientific studi that have directly pared lbian and gay parents wh heterosexual parents have nsistently shown that the same-sex upl are as f and pable parents as heterosexual upl, and that their children are jt as psychologilly healthy and well adjted.

Not every untry the world is volved the nversatn surroundg gay marriage, but a large percentage of the world’s natns have eher legalized same-sex marriage, permted gay marriage certa parts of the untry, allows civil unns between dividuals of the same sex, or actively rtricts gay marriage.

GAY MARRIAGE TIMELE

Six other stat which gay marriage bans had been overturned, Colorado, Kansas, North Carola, South Carola, Wt Virgia, and Wyomg, were also affected by the Supreme Court lg bee they were the jurisdictns of the lower urts that had overturned the gay marriage bans. "Rabbis belongg to the biggt and most liberal branch of Judaism the Uned Stat have voted to regnise the partnerships of gay and lbian Central Conference of Amerin Rabbis, which is part of the Jewish Reform movement, has agreed to sanctn relig ceremoni for same-sex Print of the Conference, Rabbi Charl Kroloff, said that gay and lbian people served the regnn and rpect due to people created the image of God. "Before the lg [Supreme Court lg that laws makg gay sex a crime were unnstutnal], supporters the Hoe [US Hoe of Reprentativ] of a nstutnal amendment that would more formally rtrict marriage to the unn of a man and a woman were havg trouble attractg sponsors.

'In view of the substance and signifince of the fundamental nstutnal right to form a fay relatnship, ' he wrote, 'the California Constutn properly mt be terpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex upl as well as to oppose-sex upl. Proposn 8 was the most expensive proposn on any ballot the natn this year, wh more than $74 ln spent by both measure's most fervent proponents believed that nothg ls than the future of tradnal fai was at stake, while opponents believed that they were fightg for the fundamental right of gay people to be treated equally unr the years ago, Californians voted 61% to fe marriage as beg only between a man and a California Supreme Court overturned that measure, Proposn 22, s May 15 cisn legalizg same-sex marriage on the grounds that the state Constutn required equal treatment of gay and lbian upl. Cuomo signed the measure after passed a Republin-ntrolled Senate on Friday night [June 24, 2011], raisg qutns as to whether the move reflects new momentum the gay rights said the law will grant same-sex upl equal rights to marry 'as well as hundreds of rights, benefs and protectns that are currently limed to married upl of the oppose sex.

Print history to fully embrace that level of civil rights for ’s announcement gave an immediate jolt to the s-long movement for gay equaly at a moment when a growg number of stat are movg to ban — or legalize — same-sex unns and as polls show a majory of Amerins support marriage rights. "Voters Mae and Maryland approved same-sex marriage on a day of electn rults that jubilant gay rights advot lled a historic turng pot, the first time that marriage for gay men and lbians has been approved at the ballot Mnota, another first, voters rejected a proposal to amend the State Constutn to fe marriage as between a man and a woman, a measure that has been enshred the nstutns of 30 stat. "The Supreme Court stck down a key part of the feral Defense of Marriage Act on Wednday and clared that same-sex upl who are legally married serve equal rights to the benefs unr feral law that go to all other married cisn is a landmark w for the gay rights movement.