Why did gay marage get banned

In recent years, the debate over same-sex marriage has grown from an issue that occasionally arose in a few states to a nationwide controversy.

How legal tide turned on same-sex marriage in the US

Indeed, in the last five years, the debate over gay marriage has been heard in the halls of the U. Congress, at the White House, in dozens of state legislatures and courtrooms, and in the rhetoric of election campaigns at both the national and state levels. Moreover, the battle over whether gays and lesbians should be allowed to wed shows no signs of abating.

In the last year alone, three states have banned same-sex marriage and four states have legalized the practice. Recently, both sides in the debate have scored important victories. Meanwhile, gay marriage advocates also won important legislative victories in a number of states, beginning in April when the Vermont Legislature legalized same-sex marriage.

The Vermont law marked the first time gay marriage was legalized as the result of a statute rather than a court ruling. By the end of Maytwo other state legislatures, those in Maine and New Hampshire, followed suit, bringing the total number of states that allow same-sex marriage to six.

Finally, in JunePresident Barack Obama granted family medical leave and certain other benefits to the same-sex partners of federal workers. The presidential memorandum did not include health insurance coverage, which would require congressional approval. Opponents of gay marriage also have had some success in recent years.

In Novemberfor instance, voters in California, Florida and Arizona approved ballot initiatives amending their state constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage, raising the total number of states that have passed such constitutional amendments to Arizona voters had previously rejected a constitutional ban in November The vote in California, on a ballot measure known as Proposition 8, was particularly notable since it overturned a May California Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in that state.

Passage of Proposition 8 also prompted an entirely new court battle over whether the just-approved ballot initiative itself was constitutional. That battle ended in Maywhen the California Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Proposition 8. Most supporters of same-sex marriage contend that gay and lesbian couples should be treated no differently than their heterosexual counterparts and that they should be able to marry like anyone else.

Beyond wanting to uphold the legal principles of nondiscrimination and equal treatment, supporters say there are very practical reasons behind the fight for marriage equity. They point out, for instance, that homosexual couples who have been together for years often find themselves without the basic rights and privileges that are currently enjoyed by heterosexual couples who legally marry — from the sharing of health and pension benefits to hospital visitation rights.

Most social conservatives and others who oppose same-sex marriage argue that marriage between a man and a woman is the bedrock of a healthy society because it leads to why did gay marage get banned families and, ultimately, to children who grow up to be productive adults.

Allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed, they contend, will radically redefine marriage and further weaken it at a time when the institution is already in serious trouble due to high divorce rates and a significant number of out-of-wedlock births. Moreover, many predict that giving gay couples the right to marry will ultimately lead to granting people in polygamous and other nontraditional relationships the right to marry as well.

The American religious community is deeply divided over the issue of same-sex marriage. The Catholic Church and many evangelical Christian groups have played a leading role in public opposition to gay marriage, while mainline Protestant churches and other religious groups wrestle with whether to ordain gay clergy and perform same-sex wedding ceremonies.

Indeed, the ordination and marriage of gay persons has been a growing wedge between the socially liberal and conservative wings of the Episcopal, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches, leading some conservative congregations and even whole dioceses to break away from their national churches.

The same-sex marriage debate is not solely an American phenomenon. Many countries, especially those in Europe, have grappled with the issue as well. See Gay Marriage Around the World. Gay Americans have been calling for the right to marry, or at least to create why did gay marage get banned formalized relationships, since the s, but same-sex marriage has only emerged as a national issue within the last 20 years.

The spark that started the debate occurred in Hawaii inwhen the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that an existing law banning same-sex marriage would be unconstitutional unless the state government could show that it had a compelling reason for discriminating against gay and lesbian couples.

Even though this decision did not immediately lead to the legalization of gay marriage in that state the case was sent back to a lower court for further considerationit did spark a nationwide backlash.