Research Paper On Same Sex Couples

Submitted By jerrettsmommy157
Words: 1278
Pages: 6

Danielle Hayes
English
Tolu Jegede
16 June 2014 Around the world more and more we as a people are seeing a change in our world. The change I’m talking about is seeing same sex couples everywhere. A lot of people have been hiding the fact that they feel for the same sex and now they are opening up more and more. But what are some of the problems same sex couples had to face not only in the past but the present also. Do same sex couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples? What if anything is different? What are some facts about same sex couples that you may of not known before? And I’m also going to have quotes from friends of mine and exactly how they feel about same sex couples. Gay-rights activism in the 1970s focused more on personal liberation and visibility than on gaining access to institutions such as marriage. While some gay activists sought the right to marry in the early 1970s, others rejected marriage as "heterosexist” and saw it as an outdated institution. The increased visibility of the gay community prompted a well- publicized backlash by opponents of gay-rights. In today’s world, one of the biggest problems same sex couples face is to have the same rights heterosexual couples have. By this I mean they don’t have the right to be married in every state. There are only nineteen states that legalized same sex marriages. These states are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Washington, Maine, Maryland, California, Delaware, Rhode Island, Minnesota, New Jersey, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. As of April 11, 2014 fifteen of one hundred ninety four countries allow same sex marriages. The thirty one states that don’t allow same sex marriages have it banned by either laws, constitutional amendments or both. Proponents argue that by prohibiting gay marriage they are acting with unconstitutional discrimination. The stonewall riots marked the beginning of a political movement for gay rights. On December of 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder. May 5, 1993, the supreme court of Hawaii said that they could not ban same sex marriage without a compelling reason to do so. Today same sex couples have a lot of problems in the world. People are violent towards them. They can be bullies. On more than one occasion homosexual people have been brutality attacked and even in some cases been killed. There are laws against the brutality that homosexual people face. There are so many hate crimes against them. But today homosexuals have so many things they can do. They have pride fest. During this event homosexuals from around the world come together to have a good time and to just be able to be themselves. There is no violence involved, no hatred, there is just relaxation. In today’s world if someone says they are homosexual people accept it more easily than they could in the past. Today, even in high school, the people that used to pick on the ones that were different are slowly changing their views about homosexuality. In the states that allow same sex marriages, the couples are able to receive the same benefits as heterosexual couples. With this I mean they can have health insurance together and in the case where someone may die, they would receive death benefits also. Say for example a cop that is homosexual and married. If a married cop dies in the line of duty they spouse gets death benefits. Well this is the same for same sex couples also. But only in the states that allow same sex marriages. If you go to another state that does not allow same sex marriage the state may not consider that the couple really is married. In Tennessee 3 same sex couples filed to have their marriages recognized. The judge in this case, Judge Aleta Trauger wrote “at this point, all signs indicate that, in the eyes of the United States Constitution, the plaintiffs’ marriages will be placed on an equal footing