Benefits of Legalizing Same Sex Marriages

Introduction

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) ageing is a new area of investigation and a new phenomenon. Over the last century, same-sex relations were constructed, regulated, and experienced in vastly different ways (Conrad and Schneider, pp. 62-66). The status of same-sex partner rights has undergone considerable change over the last 50 years. Same-sex partner rights will provisions numerous social benefits to the people when they are defined as a couple legally. The types of legal relationships available to same-sex couples differ by location, with some states recognizing relationships through the creation of civil unions, domestic partnerships, or marriages.

Background of the study

Same-sex marriage has been a significant issue in American law and politics since the early 1990s, when the Supreme Court of Hawaii in Baehr v. Lewin (1993) declared that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples was a form of sex discrimination and in violation of the state's constitution. Many states responded with a popular referendum that amended the state's constitution to define marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman (Wardle, pp. 593-635).

The Hawaii court decision sparked a maelstrom of cultural controversy and led to concern that courts in other states would challenge the heterosexual basis of marriage. Politically, same-sex marriage emerged as an important issue at the federal level with the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was passed by an overwhelming majority in Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton (Anderssen, Amlie and Ytteroy, pp. 335-351). The law declared that the federal government may not recognize same-sex marriages for any purpose, and that no state can be compelled to recognize a same-sex marriage even if performed in another state. (The act also clarified that polygamous marriages would not be recognized.) As of 2007, forty-two states had passed a law or constitutional amendment restricting marriage to heterosexual unions. Several states also passed “SuperDOMAs,” denying recognition not only of same-sex marriages but also of civil unions and domestic partnerships. In this connection, this research paper will attempt to explore the benefits same-sex marriages could bring to the country (United States), along with the impacts same sex marriages can cause on the society (Herdt & Kertzner, pp. 33-39).

Some opponents of same-sex marriage argue that recognizing non heterosexual unions would imply state endorsement of same-sex relationships, in violation of the conscience of the majority of Americans and their religious views. Others, drawing on conventional wisdom about the family, argue that marriage between a man and a woman represents the most stable environment for rearing children (Wardle, pp. 441). A two-parent household is more economically stable, it is argued, and the erosion of gender norms in nontraditional households is psychologically harmful to children.

Discussion and Analysis

The U.S. Supreme Court recognized marriage as a “vital personal right” in the 1967 inter-racial marriage case of Loving v. Virginia. However, the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples only began to shift in the 1990s when the Hawaiian Supreme Court held that excluding same-sex ...