Same-sex marriages (SSM) and civil unions

Introduction

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U.S. Court rulings on marriage:

Marriage has been recognized as a fundamental human right:

	"This Court has long recognized that freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." (US Supreme Court: Cleveland Board of Education v. LeFleur, 1974)
	"The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men." (US Supreme Court: Loving v. Virginia, 1967. This was the ruling that allowed mixed-race marriages throughout the U.S.).

But people are only allowed to marry in most North American jurisdictions if their spouse is of the opposite sex. This means that gays and lesbians cannot usually marry the person with whom they have developed a committed relationship.

Marriage is an evolving institution:

There have been many restrictions controlling who can marry:

	In Old Testament times, when a husband died without children, his wife had to join in a levirate sexual relationship with his brother. She could not marry another man until she had produced a child. That child would be credited to her former husband. There were quite a few unusual marriage and family types in the Old Testament era in addition to the one man-one woman union.
	Prior to the civil war, African-Americans were not allowed to marry in some states.
	In the 1830s, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Christ, secretly promoted the concept of polygyny This is one type of polygamy in which one man is married to multiple wives. About 100 faith groups now trace their history back to Smith's original church. By far the largest is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They practiced polygyny until 1890 when it was at least temporarily suspended. Splinter Mormon groups still practice polygyny mainly in Utah and British Columbia, Canada. They experience little government interference.
	Prior to 1948, inter-racial couples were not allowed to marry in California and some other states. Then, the California Supreme Court ruled that a black woman could marry a white man. 19 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the ironically named case Loving v. Virginia, ruled that mixed-race marriages were legal anywhere in America.
	As of the end of 2008, same-sex marriages (SSMs), civil unions, and domestic partnerships are available in some jurisdictions of the U.S. and Canada but not in others. In those jurisdictions that have made same-sex marriage available, the marriage act was simply modified to allow married couples to be either of the same sex or opposite sex. In those states that have civil unions, same-sex couples are able to obtain all of the state rights, protections and and privileges that are given to married couples. However, they are denied the over 1,000 federal benefits. In those states that have domestic partnerships, same-sex couples can register and obtain at least some of the benefits given to married couples. They are still denied the more than 1,000 federal benefits.

Current status:

	Canadian marriage law is very different from that in the U.S. The federal government defines who can marry. Thus, passage of one new federal law made same-sex marriage available on 2005-JUL to 99.6% of the Canadian population. A single province -- Prince Edward Island (PEI) -- defied the Government of Canada and refused to marry same-sex couples. Faced with a lawsuit from a lesbian couple, PEI capitulated in 2005-AUG. SSM has become an accepted part of the culture, except by religious conservatives. Since Canada has no residency requirement for marrying couples, some Irish and Israeli couples have gone there, been married, returned to their country of residence, and asked that their marriages be recognized.
	In the U.S., the situation is much more complex, because it is the state governments who determine who can marry. The situation is in continual flux with legislative and court activity in many states. The current situation is described elsewhere on this site.
	Elsewhere in the world: Same-sex marriage is available  in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, Mexico City, Mexico, and a few other locations. Civil unions are available in Scandinavian and many other European countries. SSM is not available in Israel. However, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that five same-sex couples who had married in Canada could register their marriages in Israel.

Strategy:

Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and their supporting groups have long felt that a direct drive to try to have the U.S. Supreme Court approve same-sex marriage would be too risky. They have largely abandoned efforts in state courts as well. Their current strategy appears to be to promote bills in state legislatures to allow civil unions or marriage.

On 2007-APR-16, Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry said:

"We actually have seen a record number of states this year in which bills were introduced to end gay couples' exclusion from marriage. Some of them will move forward. Some of them may move forward slowly over a period of a few years. And some of them will see a nonlinear progress, where they may move toward marriage, but through other measures, such as partnership or civil union, on the way to marriage equality. But the conversation has begun, and it's begun at the right level."

David Buckel, of Lambda Legal, a gay-positive group, noted:

"There were disappointments in the courts, but there have been successes as well. This is how these civil rights movements go forward © with ups and downs. And the question really is whether or not we're in it for the long haul, trekking all the way to the end, even though there are some valleys and mountains. And the answer is yes."

OutTake Media LLC produced a very effective 9 minute short in 2007 "to educate and defuse the gay marriage controversy." They are looking for funding to create a full-length documentary. View the short at: http://www.outtakeonline.com/

Opposition:

A public backlash following the 2003 decision by the courts in Massachusetts. Religious and social conservatives have been successful, by mid-2007, in changing the constitutions in most states to prohibit same-sex marriage. Some of these constitutional amendments were stealth measures that were promoted as banning same-sex marriage, but which in reality deny all non-married couples any benefits given to married couples. Common-law opposite-sex couples will be mainly affected.

A 2006 Pew Forum poll found that 70% of adults over 50 years of age oppose same-sex marriage. But most adults under 30 support it. More info on this and other polls.

Future predictions:

We expect that, eventually:

	In the U.S., a few lawsuits may be launched by gays and lesbians who have been married in one state and then found that their home state refuses to recognize their status. All or essentially all will fail.
	Same-sex marriage in Canada will continue uneventfully until a majority Conservative federal government is elected. If this happens before about 2020, legislation to forcibly divorce many tens of thousands of same-sex couples and give them civil unions will be introduced. Lawsuits will restart instantly.
	The U.S. Supreme Court will rule that all states must make civil unions available for same-sex couples. This will be followed a decade or so later with a ruling requiring states to provide SSM
	The federal DOMA law will be replaced by one that gives equal federal benefits, rights, and protections to both married and "civil unionized" couples.
	Churches will continue to be able to discriminate, on any basis that they feel justified, against any opposite-sex or same-sex couples who seek to be married or solemnize a civil union.

Reference used:

1. Barbara Hagerty, "Gay-Marriage Advocates Switch Tactics," National Public Radio, 2007-APR-16, at: http://www.npr.org/

Internet websites:

	The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund is the oldest and largest legal organization in the US working for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV/AIDS. Their site contains a great deal of information on legal issues, case, decisions, resources, etc. See: http://www.lambdalegal.org
	Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples is a national resource for same-sex couples. They support the diverse community of committed gay and lesbian partners through a variety of media. The constantly updated Web site contains 140+ pages of essays, surveys, legal information useful to couples, counselors, reporters, etc. Partners has also produced a video called "The Right to Marry"; images of the video are on the Web site. See: http://www.buddybuddy.com
	"The Freedom to Marry: Rites & Rights," details the history of marriage equality in the U.S., and provides quick access to the collection of court rulings and other documents. See: http://www.lmaw.org/freedom/
	"Gay Marriage: The arguments and the motives," is an essay by Scott Bidstrup which studies the causes of opposition to same-sex marriage. See: http://www.bidstrup.com/
	Rainbow Hearts is a web site devoted to gay and lesbians weddings, unions and marriages." See: http://rainbowhearts.gq.nu/
	Hawai'is Future Today, a Mormon-Roman Catholic group argues against same-sex marriages at: http://www.hawaiis-future-today.org/
	A liberal religious view is at: http://student-www.uchicago.edu/
	The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund has a "freedom to marry" WWW site at: http://www.ftm.org/
	Lambda's State by State same-sex marriage news can be accessed at: http://www.ftm.org/
	A copy of the Hawaii Supreme Court decision (124k) is seen at: http://www.eff.org/
	The text of Judge Kevin Chang's 1996-DEC ruling is at: http://www.ftm.org/
	If you doubt the importance of extending the marriage option to gays and lesbians, please read about the pain that hatred can accomplish in the absence of such legislation: http://www.critpath.org/
	The Queer Resources Directory maintains a page of same-sex marriage information; it is frequently updated. See: http://qrd.tcp.com/
	The Hawai'ian Equal Marriage Rights Project includes the current state-by-state status of anti-same-sex legislation, Hawai'ian news, the text of the report of the Commission on Sexual Orientation and the Law, etc. It is at: http://nether.net/
	A web page associated with the MARRIAGE mailing lists is at: http://abacus.oxy.edu/
	A web page discussing same-sex marriage in Canada is at: http://qlink.queensu.ca/
	The Same Sex Weddings mailing list is a support group for couples planning a same-sex wedding. See: http://www.onelist.com/

Essays and articles on same-sex marriage:

	Stuart Shepard, "Homosexual marriage debate spreads," Focus on the Family, 2001-JAN-24 at: http://www.family.org/
	"Gay Marriage: The arguments and the motives," is an essay by Scott Bidstrup which studies the causes of opposition to same-sex marriage. See: http://www.bidstrup.com/
	A 1996 statement by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (United States) is at: http://www.knight.org/
	"A Rite for the Celebration of Commitment to a Life Together" at: http://www.oasiscalifornia.org/ forms part of the "Report of the Second Consultation of Episcopalians on Same-Sex Unions," July 1996; available online at: http://www.oasiscalifornia.org/
	"Defending What? Gay Bashing Taints Legitimate Debate", Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage AK, 1996-SEP-15
	"The Courts Deliver", Honolulu Advertiser, Editorial page, 1996-DEC-4, Section 1, Page 14
	John Boswell, "Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe", Villard, New York, NY, (1994) You can read a review and/or safely order this book from the Amazon.com online bookstore
	Valerie Abrahamsen, "Burials in Greek Macedonia: Possible evidence for same-sex committed relationships in early Christianity," Journal of Higher Criticism, 4/2 (1997-FALL), Pages 33-56. Available at: http://daniel.drew.edu/
	Rob Morse, "Who Are These Men to Put Asunder," San Francisco Examiner, 1996-SEP-11

Books and other non-Internet resources

	An English translation of the Danish Act on Registered Partnership can be obtained for $2.00 USF from Paz y Liberacion, Box 66450, Houston, TX 77266.
	John Boswell, "Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century", Chapter 4, University of Chicago Press (1981). Read reviews and/or order this book.
	John Boswell, "Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe", Villard, New York, NY, (1994) You can read a review and/or safely order this book from the Amazon.com online bookstore
	Valerie Abrahamsen, "Burials in Greek Macedonia: Possible evidence for same-sex committed relationships in early Christianity," Journal of Higher Criticism, 4/2 (1997-FALL), Pages 33-56. Available at: http://daniel.drew.edu/

The Amazon.com online bookstore sells many books on same-sex marriage that you can safely buy:

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Latest update: 2009-SEP-07
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