Same-sex marriage

Definition

A same-sex marriage is a legal relationship between two people of the same sex that has the same legal status as a marriage between a man and a woman.

The Christian conservative organization Focus on the Family consistently presents the phrase as same-sex 'marriage,' with quotation marks around the word marriage, to emphasize their view that marriage—civil as well as religious—is intrinsically a union between a man and a woman and their rejection of "marriage counterfeits."

Unheard of a few decades ago these unions are one of a number of issues involving gay rights and the "culture wars."^{[Citation Needed]} In the United States, marriage is primarily governed by each individual state and marriage laws differ from state to state.

History

In 1996 Congress recognized the likelihood that gay rights advocates would soon seek changes in some states, and was concerned about test cases that would make it to the Supreme Court which would require a state that did not allow homosexual unions to recognize as valid a state that issued licenses for gay unions. The Defense of Marriage act was passed, which President Clinton signed, prevents this possibility, and does not allow the Federal Government to recognize marriage as anything other than between a man and a woman.

In 1999 a Vermont court ruled that under its constitution, it was not required to allow "same-sex marriage" but was required to make provisions to grant same-sex couples legal rights identical to those provided by marriage. Vermont responded by creating "civil unions," which are legally distinct from marriages but convey the same rights. As of 2007, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, and a couple of other states also provide civil unions. In 2003 the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that under Massachusetts' constitution, same-sex couples could not be denied Massachusetts marriage licenses, making Massachusetts the sole state to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

The religious ceremony of marriage is governed by each denomination and is unaffected by laws passed by civil authority. Same-sex marriage is forbidden in Orthodox Judaism, Catholicism, and most mainstream Protestant denominations. Thus, even in Massachusetts, it would be close to impossible for a same-sex couple to find a Catholic priest willing to marry them in a church, or an Orthodox rabbi willing to marry them in a temple.

Public attitude toward same-sex marriage parallels attitude toward homosexuality. In general, it is opposed by social conservatives and outside of this group, support is split down the middle leaning to opposition.

Line-Drawing & Gay Rights

Opponents of same-sex marriage suggest that allowing same-sex marriage will place society on a "slippery slope" towards allowing bigamy, incest, and other moral "wrongs." The argument rests on the idea that the only legal or moral "line" preventing same-sex marriage is morality, which is also the only "line" preventing acceptance of bigamy et all.

Gay rights workers suggest that such argumentation downplays the danger, though, of the evils at the bottom of the slippery slope, and society's interest in preventing these evils. The state has a compelling interest in preventing bigamous relationships, which are (1) a burden on state funding, since marriage triggers social benefits and (2) have a higher incidence of spousal abuse. These "lines" are not predicated on morality, but on facts. Similarly, incest is an evil that society has a factual interest in preventing, since incestual relationships often (1) entail abuse, and (2) result in unhealthy offspring. Since there are non-moral reasons to reject both of these "horribles", gay rights workers insist that acceptance of same-sex marriage (by abrogation of a legitimate state interest in preserving "morality") does not entail acceptance of bigamy or incest.