Marriage Equality
A Paper written for an English Class.

The following is a research paper that I wrote for an English class back in 2012.

Abstract

Marriage is a legally binding contract, a spiritual journey, and societal benefit that is shared worldwide by couples. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has made marriage exclusive to heterosexual couples in America. The creation of DOMA has created second class citizens of the LGBT community. Marriage provides heterosexual couples many benefits, legally and socially. The views of society range from complete dismal and rejection to acceptance with reservation. Governmental policies are falling to the influence of homophobia and conservative, close-minded views. Even the views of homosexuality from religious groups are changing greatly and becoming more accepted. The LGBT community has had a very bumpy road in their fight for marriage equality. Anything but an equal and desegregated marriage for the gay community is unacceptable. The legalization of same-sex marriage will not only benefit the community but also be a benefit to society in whole.

Marriage Equality: A Constitutional Right

Over the past hundred years, the United States has seen many civil rights movements. In the 1920’s women’s rights advocates succeeded in their battle for national equality to vote. In the 1960’s the African American community fought for equality and desegregation. For almost fifty years this struggle for equal rights has been that of the LGBT[1] community. Great advancements have been made over this time period; however there are still many rights that are not available to the LGBT community. The most detrimental and repressing issue in the gay rights campaign, is the struggle for equal rights to marry. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was signed into congressional law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton. In this Act, the government gave marriage the definition of being a union of two people of opposite sex. (Defense) In order to understand the importance of marriage equality, society needs to understand what DOMA has taken away from the LGBT community, as well as, how the effects of DOMA are unconstitutional.

The gay civil rights movement has been noted to have started on June 28, 1969. Author Andrew Marin, describes a night in a Greenwich village underground gay bar in New York City, where a group of homosexuals stood up to the NYPD. Marin states that the NYPD would show up regularly “show up to receive brides and shake-down those in the club under the threats of a very public, and irrevocably damaging, ‘outing.”’(Marin, 2011, p.1) This riot went to the streets and lasted a few days before the police gave up and retreated. A year later, the participants of that riot came back to that bar, and marched the street; commemorating the day they took a stand against those that threatened them. This marked the first Pride parade. These parades now occur worldwide. Ultimately the 28th of June 1969, lead up to a lesbian couple from Hawaii applying for a for a marriage license in 1990. Their application was denied, and the couple took their fight public. They proclaimed that a gay couple should have the same rights to marry as a straight couple. This couple’s case went all the way to the Hawaii Supreme Court. In 1993 after that court’s ruling, Hawaii became the first state to issue a marriage license to a gay couple. Following the court’s decision conservatives noted that due to constitutional provisions this marriage would be required to be recognized throughout the United States. Thus, DOMA was born with specific provisioning that stated that “no State shall be required to give effect to law of any other State with respect to same-sex marriage.” Following the signing of DOMA 35 states also passed laws restricting marriage to that between a man and a woman. (Same, 2009, para. 7) This information is imperative in understanding how DOMA was created from homophobia and prejudice, and has restricted the lives of millions of American unconstitutionally.

The first step to understanding the injustice created by DOMA, is recognizing what marriage actually provides a couple. In 2004, the Government Accountability office reported that there are “1,138 ‘federal statutory provisions…in which marital status is a factor in determining benefits, rights, and privileges.’” In year 2007, none of these rights were extended to couples of the LGBT community. (Same, 2009, p.3) Heterosexual married couples are entitled to legal rights that may be taken for granted by some and not realized by others. Author and Yale graduate, Jonathan Rauch, explains that after a couple is married they are entitled to certain “caregiver” rights (2011, p.24). These rights include medical decision, hospital visitation, and survivorship rights. The realization that these rights did not exist for homosexual couples didn’t come until they were faced with a disastrous situation. In an article entitled “It Gets Better” from New Yorker, author Remnick informs, “Amid the aids epidemic, countless gay men discovered that they had no rights concerning their loved ones when it came to medical decisions, estates, burial, and health insurance.” (2011, para. 4) It would never occur to a husband and wife that if it was not for their marriage, they may not even have the right to visit there significant other as they were dying. Heather Williams explains her experience in this type of situation as being “devastating.” Heather and her partner Cynthia had been together for thirty years. They had overcome many obstacles in that time period, but one that they still struggled with was the acceptance of her lifestyle by her family. Cynthia was diagnosed with cancer in the early spring of 1997, and progressively got worse. The doctor told Cynthia that she had three to six months to live by the middle of ‘98. The news was hard to take, but the couple knew if they had each other things would be fine. One day as Heather was waiting with Cynthia; her family came in, and demanded the hospital remove Heather from the room because she was not a family member. In this situation, Heather had no choice but to leave. Her family made sure that the last few months of Cynthia’s life was spent without Heather’s presence. She stated, “Those last few months were the worst of my life, I had to watch from afar as my life partner slipped away from me. After she passed, her family returned to their normal life, not helping with funeral expenses, preparations, or burial.” (Personal Communication, November 5, 2011) This example shows how the lives of two people can easily be turned upside down when the government fails to recognize them as a legal couple. Within these marriage rights; a spouse also has the right to make medical decisions if the other is terminally ill or unable to make decisions on their own without the need of living wills, power of attorney, and much more legal paperwork. Federal recognition of marriage also allows heterosexual couples to file and claim taxes as a joint unit instead of separately. These benefits of marriage are not the only reason people get married, but they are certainly perks that make life a little easier for couples.

Not only is marriage a binding contract that imparts legal benefits, but offers a separate social status as well. Society has imparted the need to marry and find your “life partner” from childhood. As Americans we panic about being alone, dying alone, and not having someone to share our hard times with. Jonathan Rauch made a good point when he stated that when two people enter a marriage their vows are not only legally binding, but are also an affirmation to society. In this the couple is stating, “‘We, the two of us, pledge to make a home together, care for one another, and, perhaps, raise children together. In exchange for the caregiving commitment we are making, you, our community, will recognize us not only as individuals but as a bonded pair, a family, granting us special autonomy and a special status which only marriage conveys’”(2011, p.30) In this section, Rauch says that marriage is a support system that is given and taken by the community and the married couple. Socially, married couples are viewed as a family. Although societal acceptance grows, there still exists stereotypes of the homosexual community that depicts them as polyandrous and promiscuous with the inability to settle down with one partner.

The next step in understanding the injustice that DOMA has created is to identify the opposing forces that are illegitimating same-sex marriage. There are generally two types of opposing arguments. There are those that are completely against gay marriage, and generally homosexuality in whole. For example, on the Facts on File Issues & controversies website, it is stated that one opponent, James Dobson the Founder of the Christian family-values group, Focus on the Family, runs a program entitled Love Won Out, where they try to convert homosexuals, to the straight non-deviant lifestyle choice.(p.5) Until we weed out these views of homosexuality as a choice, as deviant, and as an abomination the fight for equality and the segregation of a community are going to exist. These arguers also associate homosexuality to polygamy, bestiality, incest, and molestation. Dobson states that allowing members of the LGBT community to marry would create a “slippery slope of permissiveness.” He expands on this by stating “How about group marriage? Or marriage between daddies and little girls? Or marriage between a man and his donkey? Anything allegedly linked to civil rights will be doable, and the legal underpinnings for marriage will have been destroyed.” (Same, 2011) These conservative and outrageous judgments upon Homosexuality are yet another example of how these critics and their views create second class citizens of homosexuals.

Also in this group of opponents, are those that use religious doctrine to refute the condoning of homosexuality, let alone the condoning of same-sex marriage. However, the views of religious institutions are not uniform throughout the various sects. In October 2011, Ebony magazine published two articles side by side. These articles, both written by Reverends of African-American churches, are direct contrasts to one another. Rev. Kevin Brooks pastor of Gethsemane Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland, writes of how Christian living, does not allow the words gay and marriage to be associated with each other. In his editorial, he considers homosexuality to be a “sin of the flesh” and states, “For Christians, marriage is a commitment for the sustaining of a community, nation, and civilization.” Reverend Brooks infers that allowing gays to marry would be as sinful as the act of homosexuality itself. (Brooks, 2011) These views come from close-minded individuals that have no ability to grow. History shows that the views of the church have changed dramatically over the decades. At one point, marriages were truly life-long, divorces were non-existent. During this time period, marriages were arranged, wives were considered property, and vows for the wife include the words “love, honor, and obey.” Directly contrasting the views depicted by Brooks, Reverend Dennis Wiley, Ph.D., the pastor of the Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., states that churches that are against homosexuals are individuals that have misunderstood and twisted the meaning in the biblical texts they claim condemn homosexuality. Wiley explains, “Whereas these popular passages condemn same-sex behavior that was violent, abusive, or once believed to result in ritual impurity, the scriptures do no explicitly address a monogamous relationship between two loving same-sex individuals.” (para. 1) Reverend Wiley shows us that the hateful expressions towards homosexuality in the church are extreme views that are enforced by homophobia and close-mindedness. The Christian religion preaches love, non-judgment, and honesty. The thought of forcing homosexuals to denounce themselves, and live in a lie is directly hypocritical to these standards.

The next group of opponents in the LGBT movement is those that believe that homosexual couples should be entitled to the same rights as straight couples, but that it should not be called marriage. This equal but separate ruling is not a help to homosexuals in their fight for equality. Although many states have passed laws allowing civil unions or domestic partnerships, these provisions are still detrimental to the societal acceptance of the gay community. In the past, whenever a group is separated from another, there are issues and controversies that are fed by that separation. Bigotry is fed by the creation of second class citizens and separate groups. Rausch’s book contains an entire chapter, entitled “Accept No Substitutes,” dedicated to the equal but separate ideology and how it isn’t an effective solution. In his writings Rausch states, “Domestic-partner and other marriage-lite arrangements, as I can’t resist calling them, do not give homosexuals what they need. They also do not give society what it needs…a multi-track system featuring marriage and various forms of pseudo-marriage is, at best, a distant second choice to same sex marriage…” He follows by stating that civil arrangements misinterpret what marriage is and compares it to a “contract between to people.” (Rausch, 2011, Ch. 2)Yes, a marriage is a contract between two people but it is also an assertion of their love, a societal status, and a spiritual conviction. These alternate options are usually on a state level and do not provided the necessary federal recognition that is required. In an article published in the New York Times on May 7, 2011, it is realized that these same-sex unions fall short and provide more evidence that the laws set by DOMA are discriminatory and unconstitutional. The article is a news story on a deportation case against a Venezuelan man that is “married” to an American man. Henry Velandia and Josh Vandiver were married in Connecticut in 2010, and Velandia was “denied legal residency as Mr. Vandiver’s spouse because under a federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act, immigration authorities do not recognize same-sex marriage.” Preston explains that in the court case, the judge suspended Mr. Velandia’s deportation due to recent investigation by Obama administration on the Defense of Marriage Act. He states that in February the administration determined that DOMA “discriminates unconstitutionally against gay people.” (Preston, 2011) This is just one example of the many cases that have been presented against the wrong in DOMA. Obama’s administration has stated that they will no longer defend the law, but will continue to enforce it until a clear determination on it has been made. This shows that America is in the midst of a change.

The only solution that is going to work and be beneficial for all is to abolish DOMA and recognize marriage for all federally. If the Government were to do so it would bring solutions to a lot of problems, not only those of the LGBT civil rights movement. In Reverend Wiley’s editorial, he also explains that while he has no proof that allowing gays to marry is going to destroy the institution of marriage, he does see evidence that it will strengthen the family. He states that “Several of the more stable families in my congregation are headed by same-sex parents.” He states that “the love, commitment, and faithfulness” of a family is the building blocks of a strong foundation, not the sexual orientation of the parents. He states that “we place them [same-sex couples] in a moral catch-22 when we accuse them of promiscuity, yet deny them the right to consecrate their unions.” (Wiley, 2011, para. 6) The legalization of a federally recognized marriage, not a civil union or a same-sex marriage but an equal marriage, would allow the community to more easily adopt, share their lives uninterrupted by forces that oppress them, as well as create a more social acceptance for millions of families. The acceptance that will be gained by legalizing same sex marriage will be a catalyst to the already growing acceptance of homosexuality. On page 28 of his book, Rausch explains that “As more homosexuals come out into the open, the more heterosexuals come to realize that homosexuality really exists: that is, there really are people for whom opposite-sex love is not an option.” (2011) This statement may sound trivial, but many people still believe that homosexuality is a choice; that it is an unnatural phenomenon.

What many of these people do not realize is that homosexuality has been found in over 1500 Species of animals in the world according to an article published on News-medical.net. In this article it is described that within the animal kingdom homosexuality is found that both last intermittently throughout the animals’ life as well as lifelong same-sex coupling. The journal states, “Animals that live a completely homosexual life can also be found. This occurs especially among birds that will pair with one partner for life, which is the case with geese and ducks. Four to five percent of the couples are homosexual. Single females will lay eggs in a homosexual pair's nest. It has been observed that the homosexual couples are often better at raising the young than heterosexual couples.” (1500, 2006, para. 12) America needs to embrace that homosexuality is a natural occurrence and not a deviant lifestyle as previously noted. Perhaps, society could embrace the same mind-set of the single female goose, and trust that not only is the homosexual relationship real, but realize that just because a couple is same-sex does not mean they are incapable of raising a functional family.

Surprisingly, marriage between a man and a woman is extremely easy to acquire. Two heterosexuals do not even need to know each other in order to obtain a marriage license. A man and women could meet on the street, look at one another, and then run off to a chapel and elope. This ease of obtainment and ease in dissolving a marriage has made marriage for heterosexuals a circus. Celebrities are published for weeks in papers for 72 hour marriages, and high profile divorces. The Members of the LGBT community that are looking for a marriage license are couples that have been together for years. Due to DOMA loving couples are not able to be recognized by a government that allows to strangers to marry. The government is already taken considerations that DOMA is a unconstitutional, now it just have to realize that the only solution to the issue is to legalize marriage for all.

References

Brooks, K.A. (2011, October) We are not out own. Ebony, 66(12), 107. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Defense of marriage act (1996, May 18) Retrieved from: http://Thomas.loc.gov

Marin, A. (2011, October) Winner take all? – a political and religious assessment of the culture war between the LGBT community and conservatives. Political Theology. 12(4) 501-510. doi: 10.1558/poth.v12i4.501

News-medical. (2006, October 23) 1500 animal species practice homosexuality. Retrieved from: http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/10/23/20718.aspx

Preston, J. (2011, May 7). Judge gives immigrant in same-sex marriage a reprieve from deportation. New York Times. P. 12. Retrieved from: Academic Search Complete database

Rauch, J. (2004). Gay marriage: why it is good for gays, good for straights, and good for america. New York, New York: Henry Holt & Company, LLC.

Remnick, D. (2011). It gets better. New Yorker, 87(20), 31-32. Retrieved from: Academic Search Complete database

Same sex marriage. (2009, March 26) Issues & controversies on file. Retrieved from issues & Controversies database.

Wiley, D.W. (2011, October) The sin is hypocrisy. Ebony, 66(12), 106-107. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

[1] LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transgendered.