Gay marriage has been a hot topic for
years. On the political spectrum, most conservatives would prefer to
keep it banned. Conservatives value freedom over equality, and they
also aren't known to promote social change. On the other hand,
liberals are fighting to lift the bans already in place. They want
equality for every person. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
prevents federal government from recognizing same sex marriages
legalized by the states. The Defense of Marriage act states that
marriage is between one woman and one man. Nonetheless,
splashed across all media, in June of 2013, the Supreme
Court declared The Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, by a 5-4
vote.
Yes, everyone has a right to believe what they want. That's one of the privileges we have living
in the U.S. So if you don't believe gay people should be married,
well that's fine and dandy. But when your beliefs require taking
freedoms away from others, that's the problem. Some people here in
this country feel like they deserve certain rights that others
don't. Our constitution did not provide much in the way of equality
for all. But there are people in the world that are standing up and
saying, “we all deserve equal rights,” even our own President.
In response to DOMA being struck down, Obama declared:
This was discrimination enshrined in
law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a
separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted
that wrong, and our country if better off for it. We are a people
who declared that we are all created equal - and the love we commit
to one another must be equal as well.
To date, same-sex marriage has been
legalized in 17 states. That's huge. It's a trend that is picking
up speed. This last Wednesday something huge happened in a very
conservative state. Texas Federal judge Orlando Garcia, out of San
Antonio, declared Texas' ban on gay marriage unconstitutional.
However, the ban was left in place while an appeals courts decides on
the issue. Judge Orlando Garcia stated, “the state's marriage laws
demean the dignity of gay couples for no legitimate reason.”
Some citizens thought Texas would be
one of the last states to jump on the equality bandwagon. But people
are tired of being denied rights on the basis of religion. How is it
that we have freedom of religion and yet, we allow others to use that
freedom to take away from others? This is a serious fight for
equality, one of many.
Sources:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-judge-strikes-down-texas-gay-marriage-ban-n39466
http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004857
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/02/gay-man-suing-for-marriage-rights-is-good-friends-with-greg-abbott.html/?nclick_check=1
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/26/supreme-court-strikes-down-defense-marriage-act
I agree that The Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. I believe individuals should have the freedom to decide whom they love and it shouldn’t be influenced by gender. The government shouldn’t be the one who influences people’s decision over who to spend the rest of their lives with. Society promotes the separation of the church and state. It’s hard to understand then why many people force their religious beliefs on the topic of same-sex marriage.
ReplyDeleteTexas, this last Wednesday, made a good step forward when the ban on same-sex marriage was lifted. Judge Orlando Garcia stated, “equal treatment of all individuals under the law is not merely an aspiration it is a constitutional mandate." Garcia’s reasoning behind lifting the ban was that the ban didn’t have “a rational relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose” and it denied “ same-sex couples the benefits, dignity and value of celebrating marriage and having their out-of-state marriage recognized”. I support Garcia’s position, even though the lift on the ban won’t have immediate effects as it is going through the appeal process. As for right now, “same-sex couples in Texas cannot get married”.
I hope that when this generation’s teenagers grow up and have children of their own there will no longer be anything like "coming out". And when we tell our children about how back in our day girls who liked other girls and boys who liked other boys were shamed and weren’t even allowed to marry one another, they’ll stare at us in shock and won’t even be able to comprehend a world like that.