The aspect of equality with respect to Gay marriage - Research Paper Example

? Gay Marriage Equality As It Relates To Equality In General Gay marriages, that is, marriage between people of same gender, have been an issue of debate since centuries. Kertbeny coined the term “homosexuality” suggesting that as homosexuality is endowed by nature, it is unethical to prevent them from basic human rights (A History of Gay Marriage, n.d., p. 55). The gay people have not only faced inequality in court but they also have been subject to physical and mental harassment by their fellow citizens. Instead of considering homosexuality as a person’s natural character, some people believe that it is a choice and these people choose wrong as they have misunderstood the laws of nature and hence they should be considered as criminals for committing such sexual acts. Religious fanatics believe that as the same-sex couples cannot have children, their union is an offense against the nature. Homosexuality is considered as ‘unnatural’ in Bible but the people have confused ‘unnatural’ with ‘immoral’ (A History of Gay Marriage, n.d., p. 99). The homosexuals on the other hand are fighting against the discrimination, taking the stand that it is not their fault, that they are, as they are and hence the battle. The main issue of the battle being, the homosexuals get the same rights and privileges as heterosexuals. This paper attempts to explain the aspect of equality with respect to Gay marriage. History of Gay Marriage: In the civilizations as ancient as Mesopotamia evidences have been found proving the existence of the gay marriages. A number of documents have been found in Mesopotamia containing an account of the different types of marital practices and none of the laws were against the gay marriages, even when they had proper regulations for marriages (A History of Gay Marriage, n.d., p. 45). Even in Egypt some artifacts have been found which validates the existence of gay marriages. A pharaonic tomb on ancient Egypt clearly shows that even the kingdom accepted the gay marriages. Plato’s symposium that was found in ancient Greece clearly depicted the cases of same-sex attractions and relationships. Some Greek artworks also show the social prevalence of this equality. Even the epics like Lliad and Odyssey contains some passages which talks about the presence of homosexual relationships. Some examples of gay unions have also been found in Greece like those between student and pupil of the same gender. In Rome, the proofs have been found regarding the presence of homosexual relationships of the roman emperors. Thus we can clearly see that the gay marriages were thoroughly accepted by the society in the early history but over time a negative attitude developed towards the same-sex unions (A History of Gay Marriage, n.d., p. 56). In the modern history gay marriages can be traced back to 1989 in Scandinavia, when Denmark was the first country to recognize the gay marriages legally as “registered partnership”. Then the other countries like Norway, Sweden also gave the recognition to the gay marriage. Netherland became the first country to grant gay marriages the same status as the conventional opposite sex marriage (A History of Gay Marriage, n.d., p.58). Comparison between State and Federal rights: Federal government passed the Defence of Marriage Acts in 1996, signed by the President Bill Clinton which defined marriage as the union between people of opposite genders and that the same sex marriages will not be recognized by the federation. It also allowed the states the freedom to recognize or not recognize the homosexual marriages. After this act many of the States legalized the gay marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships and some other states declared that the same-sex marriages licensed in the other states as invalid under their constitution. This happened as the law of “full faith and credit”, which ensured that the laws made by a state to be respected by the other states, was also made optional in the Defence of Marriages Act (Hartman, 2012, p. 187). The main issue regarding the gay union is that the federal government provides more than 1100 rights and benefits for the conventional marriages (Hartman, 2012, p. 188). But by barring the homosexual people from getting married they are not only deprived of the basic human rights but also the citizen rights they should get. And as the same-sex unions which are permitted by the state are not recognized by the federation, these couple will have to forego the benefits that they should have got. It seems that the laws have been specifically designed to deprive the homosexual people of their rights. In 2004, the Federal Marriage Amendment was proposed in the US which states that “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.” (Land, 2004, p. 302). This law was proposed on the basis of the belief that the gay marriages weakens the institutional structure of the traditional and cultural marriages and also raising the issue that the children of gay couples would not have a stable family and hence it should not be allowed under any circumstances. It failed to become a part of constitution in 2006 as it was not approved by two-thirds of the members of the congress. However in 2008 a similar bill called ‘Proposition 8’ was passed in California on getting support of majority of the voters (About Prop. 8, n.d., p. 66). In 2010 this proposition was annulled by the Chief Judge of the Federal District Court of the Northern District of the California, on the basis of the fact that the homosexuals have the equal right to marry (Dao, 2011, p. 98). However things became better when The President Barrack Obama and the US Attorney General, Eric Holder declared that they would not defend the Defence of Marriage Acts in the court as it is an unconstitutional act and unjustified (Rosenbalt, 2011, p. 178) but it will remain operational until it is officially annulled by the Congress (Rosenbalt, 2011, p. 178). History of the Civil Rights: The fundamental rights of humans such as freedom of speech, association, dignity, equal treatment in court are considered as the civil rights of an individual and these should be independent of the factors like gender, race, caste, etc (Nguyen, 1999, p. 43). But the homosexuals have been deprived of these basic rights and the discrimination is legalized (Nguyen, 1999, p. 45). The issue of Gay rights and equality became a controversial battle when the homosexuals of America started their revolt for their basic rights and equality. The first bold attempt of the gay rights movement was the Stonewall riots of 1969 in which the ‘Gay Patrons’ of a bar revolted against the policemen for raiding ‘Gay bars’. It was the first time that the homosexuals revealed their identities in the public. Prior to this, these people had remained their identities hidden as they considered themselves as a minority class, not-accepted by the general public. This event propelled the formation of a number of ‘Gay Right Groups’ in the country and a widespread movement had begun. The first milestone of success was reached in 1973, when based on the empirical data the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. Then a series of social and political campaigns were organized to fight against the discrimination. In 1978, the anti-gay movement also became strong when an activist Anita Brynt started a campaign “Save our children” by which she protested the recruitment of homosexuals as teachers in the elementary schools. She even managed to nullify an ordinance against the anti-discrimination of homosexuals. The Gay community was even targeted as the source of infecting virus when AIDS became a major concern but it has been proven that the traditional sex has attributed to more than 90 % of the disease (Nguyen, 1999, p. 74). In 1942, the US military banned homosexuals from continuing the service on the grounds that the efficiency of heterosexuals was affected by their presence. In 1993, the presence of homosexuals was legalized in the military provided their sexual orientations are not revealed publicly. This was called the “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” policy which was passed by President Bill Clinton. This policy even though it supports the gays it deprives them of their basic rights of speech and association under the First Amendment rights and hence treating them as inferior citizens. After this a series of successes followed for the gay right groups. In 2000, the state of Vermont granted the homosexual marriages same benefits and privileges as their heterosexual counterparts. In the same year the American Medical Association opposed the therapy that aimed to cure the homosexuals. In 2005, the House of Commons in Canada declared all the gay marriages to be legalized if the bill for the same is passed by the Senate (Hunt, 2005, p. 55). In 2007, this took on a new turn when some international human right advocates launched the “Yogyakarta Principles” by which the States were bound to protect the human rights of all individuals irrespective of their gender orientation (O’ Flaherty, Fisher, 2008, p. 99) The following table presents a timeline of the major events of the Gay Rights Movements: 1924 The movement for Gay rights in Chicago by the Human Rights Society 1945 Harry Stimson, US war secretary, had aimed to re-induce the discharged gay officials who had not committed any homosexual act while on duty. 1951 Harry Ray, considered to be founder of gay rights movement founded the The Mattachine Society which was the first national organization for gay rights. 1962 Illinois was the first state which considered the homosexual acts as not of criminal nature 1965 The first public protest by the The Mattachine Society 1969 The Stonewall Riots in which the gay patrons of the inn started a revolt which became a widespread movement with gay couples forming unions. 1970 A gay couple applied for a marriage license in Minnesota and the US supreme court did not even hear the case. They finally got license in the next year from another Minnesota county. 1972 The first cities in US to pass homosexual rights were San Francisco in California and East Lancing and Ann Arbor in Michigan. 1973 Homosexuality was removed from the list of mental disorders by the American Psychiatric Association 1974 An American Gay women wins a seat in the public office in Ann Arbor, Michigan 1979 Washington DC hosts the first National Homosexual Rights March 1980 The Democratic Party of US endorsed the gay right, which was not yet done by any political party. 1981 The US department of Defence stated that military service was not compatible with homosexuality. 1982 Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was prohibited by the state of Wisconsin. 1989 US Supreme court rules that the constitution does not protect the homosexual acts consented and done in privacy, called Bowers vs Hardwick policy. Homosexual marriages are legalized in Denmark. 1993 “Don’t ask Don’t Tell” policy by Bill Clinton for gay people serving in military. Homosexual marriages are legalized in Norway. 1996 Bill Clinton passes the Defence of Marriage act which does not recognizes gay marriages. 1999 A domestic partnership law is adopted by California 2000 Same-sex marriages was legally first recognized by the state of Vermont 2003 Bowers vs Hardwick policy is replaced by Lawrence vs Texas according to which all homosexual acts were protected. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Courts stands for “dignity and equality of all individuals” and thereby rules that it is unconstitutional to bar gay couples from getting married. The US supreme court declared the State Sodomy laws as unconstitutional. 2004 Same sex marriage certificates are issued by a mayor of San Francisco which were later cancelled by the California Supreme Court 2005 Civil Union was legalized by Connecticut 2006 Civil Union was legalized by New Jersey 2007 The ‘Employment Non-Discrimination Act’ is approved by the US house of representatives which states that there would be no gender based discrimination in the work place. 2008 An appeal for the recognition of the same sex marriage is made by the New Yorkers to allow the recognition of the same-sex marriages performed in other countries in New York. A law of registered ‘domestic partners’ is passed and later implemented in Oregon which gives partial rights to same-sex couples. California Supreme Court permits homosexual marriages in May and after thousands of couples had been married, the law is withdrawn under the ‘Proposition 8’. In May 2009 the court allows the married gay couples to remain married but it was banned for any future marriages. Gay marriage is banned in countries like Florida, California and Arizona and adopting children by gay couples is banned in Arkansas. The Connecticut Supreme Court passes the law for Gay Marriages on the grounds that the civil union does not provide equal rights as conventional marriages. A civil union law is enacted in the New Hampshire. 2009 The state law of banning the homosexual marriage is out rightly rejected by the Iowa Supreme Court and marriage licenses are issued to the gay couples. The gay marriages are legalized for the first time, in Vermont, by Legislature instead of court orders. The citizens of Maine overturn the law of same sex marriages passed by their Governor, at the time of elections. The New Hampshire Governor passes the legislation for the homosexual marriages. The Gay couples working for the Federation are allowed some benefits but health coverage will only be partial as per the referendum passed by The President Barrack Obama. A bill is passed to legalize homosexual marriage in Columbia. 2010 The law of homosexual marriage is implemented in Columbia Proposition 8 is ruled out by the Chief District Judge of the US. The annulment of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is favored by the majority of the US Senates but the decision was to be officially taken by the President, Defence Secretary and the Admiral. It was officially repealed by the president Obama on Dec 18. 2011 New York becomes the largest state allowing the same-sex marriages. The President Barrack Obama stops defending the Defence of Marriage Act. Senate Judiciary committee clears the DOMA repeal bill. (Gay rights Timeline, 2010, p. 58; The American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline, 2012, p. 99; Margasak, 2011, p. 55) Conclusion: The last two decades have been the epoch for the Gay rights history with more and more people raising their voices against the inequality of Gay marriages. The movements have lead to a more widespread acceptance of the homosexual marriages. Discrimination at the social level has been reduced to a great extent but there is still a long way to go to reach the equality stage at the political level. America has always been in favor of protecting the rights of minorities. This is also why we have the Bill of Rights and the anti slavery and equal protection amendments. This is a contradiction to denying of marriages to this minor community of homosexuals. It is equivalent to depriving the black couples from marriage. When the term same-sex marriage is used, the proponents often like to call it ‘equal marriage’ to focus on the equality factor rather than special rights. With due respect to individual freedom, right and morality the case of same sex or gay marriage can be supported. References: The American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline (2012), Infoplease, retrieved on February 8, 2012 from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html A History of Gay Marriage (n.d.), Random History, retrieved on February 8, 2012 from http://www.randomhistory.com/history-of-gay-marriage.html Gay rights Timeline (2010), Congressional Digest, 89 (4), 101-102 Dao, J. (2011), Proposition 8 Appeals Case Winds Down, New York Times, retrieved on February 8, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/us/proposition-8-appeals-case-winds-down.html Hartman, H. (2012), A Primer on Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships, and Defense of Marriage Acts, retrieved on February 8, 2012 from: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0922609.html Hunt, S. (2005), Civil Rights in the New Millennium, Scripps Howard News Service, retrieved on Feb 4, 2012. http://www.swaneehunt.com/articles/SHNS_CivilRightsInTheNewMillennium.htm Land, R. (2004), The Case for the Federal Marriage Amendment, retrieved on February 8, 2012 from http://erlc.com/article/the-case-for-the-federal-marriage-amendment/ Nguyen, T.M. (1999), Civil Rights - The History of Gay Rights, retrieved on February 8, 2012 from http://www.enderminh.com/minh/civilrights.aspx Margasak, L. (2011), DOMA Repeal Bill Clears Senate Judiciary Committee Vote, Huffington Post, retrieved on Feb 4, 2012 from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/defense-of-marriage-act-repeal-bill-democrats-_n_1086237.html O’Flaherty, M. and Fisher, J (2008), Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and International Human Rights Law: Contextualising the Yogyakarta Principle, Oxford Journals, 8(2), 207-248. Rosenblat, J. (2011) Obama, Holder Call 1996 Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional, Bloomberg Businessweek, retrieved on Feb 4, 2012 from http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-24/obama-holder-call-1996-defense-of-marriage-act-unconstitutional.html Read More