Essay on Same Sex Marriages

Submitted By sslakes
Words: 3045
Pages: 13

The Constitution of the United States of America is essentially the law of the land. It sets the stage and creates the foundation and source of the legal authority for the United States of America including the federal, state & local governments. When the authors of the Constitution wrote the constitution they were aware that changes would be made over time in order to keep up with the ever changing society. As time progressed many laws and regulations that the government and state have upheld have been proven un-constitional and in violation of one’s rights. Many issues go before the Supreme Court that determines the laws that regulate life in the United States. The 14th Amendment states “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws “(Domino). Furthermore, the Equal Protection Clause which marked a huge shift in the Constitution for equal protection for all from the federal government. Marriage is included as an equal protection and right. Prior cases have decided that the government does not have the legal right to decide who a person should marry, but when looking at the sex of that person the government has stepped in and taken a strong stance against same-sex marriages. Thus proposing very controversial issues in today’s society. By not allowing same-sex marriages is the government stripping ones right to marry under the Equal Protection and Due Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? Marriage is a union based on love and respect that two people share for one another. With the signing of the constitution origionally the federal government did not attempt to establish its own definition of marriage; any marriage they simply decided that any marriage recognized by a state was recognized by the federal government. With the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, marriage was clearly defined by law as a union of one man and one woman. The law states that no state needs to treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state. The act also included that The Federal Government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states. Since the defense Marriage Act was passed no agency of the federal government recognized same-sex marriage. Marriage has a long history in the religious and legal realm in The United States. Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that "Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State” (Lawson 1152) Marriage is an important aspect of life and has become the social fabric of the people of our nation. Over time the benefits of marriage in our society have become apparent. Marriage started as a religious right, but has so many benefits that are recognized by the secular world, and as a result has become subject to government definition and regulation. In the religious world, marriage is almost exclusively the committed union between a single man and a single woman. Generally, the union is blessed or consecrated by a representative of the religion generally in a wedding ceremony.
The fight for ones equal rights in terms of marriage