Lesbian, gay, & bisexual topics

Same-sex marriages (SSM), civil
unions & domestic partnerships

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The two solitudes:

Marriage Project's symbol 1	Family Research Council's marriage symbol 2

This essay gives some background material about same-sex marriage (SSM) that
you might find helpful before you proceed to our rather large section describing SSM.

Two contrasting quotes to consider, two photographs to look at, and a You Tube video to watch that show the great gulf that exists over SSM:

• - "It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man." Pope John Paul II, referring to same-sex marriage. ₆
  
  
• + "A loving man and woman in a committed relationship can marry. Dogs, no matter what their relationship, are not allowed to marry. How should society treat gays and lesbians in committed relationships? As dogs or as humans?" Anonymous posting to an Internet mailing list.
  
  
• Consider whether either of the following photographs upset you, and why.

• This is a ten minute video from You Tube. It was published on 2012-MAY-06, and has been viewed 2.9 million times by 2012-JUL-18! It will be made into a documentary film. It should be of interest both to those opposed to and who favor equal marriage. It has an important message to couples in same-sex relationships: that if they live in an area where they are unable to marry, they should attempt to legally protect themselves and their relationship as much as possible, even if the state considers them a "legal strangers" -- as mere roommates.

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Background:

For some years, same-sex marriage (SSM) has been at the top of any list of leading religious/secular/political controversies in North America. It appears to have eclipsed even concerns over abortion access. Like abortion access, it is a complex topic, divisive, and not readily amenable to compromise. After all:

• U.S. states either allow SSM, ban it, or do not allow it but recognize legal SSMs solemnized elsewhere. There really is no middle ground.
  
  
• The federal government currenlty ignores legal same-sex marriages in accordance with its Defense of Marriage act (DOMA). That law is currenlty being enforced, although there are efforts to repeal the act, and numerous lawsuits to have it declared unconstitutional by the courts.

Any change, or threat of change, to the culture is distressing to many people. A change to the structure of the fundamental building block of society -- the family -- can be particularly upsetting. Also, any change related to human sexuality can be profoundly disorienting.

At the present time, SSM has split the U.S. by:

• Age: Youth and young adults are generally for SSM; the elderly are against or evenly split.
  
  
• Political affiliation: Most Democrats are in are favor, Independents slightly less so, Republicans are almost all opposed.
  
  
• Religion: Conservatives are very strongly opposed; religious liberal, progressives, and secularists are in favor; main line denominations are split.
  
  
• Geography: The northeast is supportive; the west coast is about evenly split; the rest of the country is against.
  

In 2009, the majority of American adults opposed SSM, except in about six states and the District of Columbia. However, the trend is towards increasing acceptance. By 2010, the natonal level of support and opposition were equal. By mid-2011, about 53% of American adults favor SSM while about 45% are opposed for a margin of about 8 percentage points. If current trends continue, those American adults who have an opinion on the topic will be increasingly supportive of SSM.

In early 2011, the Obama Administration recognized that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was clearly unconstitutional. Although they continued to enforce the law, they stopped defending its constitutionality in the courts. Some commentators suggested that this decision would create a "tipping point" that would speed up the trends towards marriage equality in the U.S. We have been monitoring such trends on an monthly basis. It would seem that a tipping point has actually ocurred.

LivingVote.org followed the debate over Proposition 8 in California, which -- by a very narrow margin -- terminated SSM in that state during 2008-NOV. LivingVote's visitors posted three arguments for and three against SSM which seem to reflect Americans' main concerns nationally:

Our section on same-sex marriage is MASSIVE for two reasons:

1. It is the most actively debated religious topic in the U.S. today, having surpassed even abortion access in importance.
   
   
2. Eligibility for marriage has been defined by the individual states for centuries. Thus, the conflict for same-sex marriage is really 51 battles -- one in the District of Columbia, and one in each of the 50 states.

Most observers expect that same-sex marriage (SSM) will develop much as interracial marriage did in the 20th century: Over the next decade or so, a group of states will individually legalize same-sex marriage. Finally, a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court will declare SSM legal across the entire country, perhaps in the 2020's.

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. National Freedom to Marry Day logos are available at: http://www.lambdalegal.org
2. From the Family Research Council's Washington Update mailing list of 2003-OCT-8.
3. Nima Reza, "Vermont Gay Marriage Begins Tuesday," CitizenLink daily update e-mail, 2009-AUG-31.
4. Bob Livingston, "Gay marriage divides GOP," Personal Liberty Digest, 2009-JUN-03, at: http://www.personalliberty.com/
5. John McCain, CNN newsroom transcript, 2007-FEB-11, at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/
6. Philip Pullella, "Gay marriage, abortion new forms of evil: Pope," The Toronto Star, 2005-FEB-23, Page A14.
7. "The day that had to come: New York helps lead the way toward equality with vote on gay marriage," Buffalo News, 2011-JUN-28, at: http://www.buffalonews.com/

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Copyright © 1997 to 2012 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Rewritten: 2009-MAY-10
Latest update: 2012-JUL-18
Author: B.A. Robinson

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