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.
Sponsored link:
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:
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:
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/
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/
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/
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
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.
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: