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

Download file to see previous pages The opening of the thesis report consists of the 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. 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. 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”. ...
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 ...Download file to see next pagesRead More