Same Sex Marriage

1
Same Sex Marriage

• Legal or Illegal?

2

• Adam Green
• Craig Gaunt
• Kara Malick
• Morgan Riebel
• J.D. Shaw

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The World and Marriage

• Found in all societies and religions
• Most countries do not give same-sex couples same
  right to marry
• Exceptions Netherlands Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
  Iceland, and Finland Hungary, and Portugal

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Number of Same-Sex Marriages, Overall
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Same-sex Marriages,Oregon Occurrence, 2004 YTD
Preliminary
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Significant Court Cases and their Impact

• Baker V. Nelson (Minnesota, 1971)
• First same-sex marriage court case in the US
• A gay couple was denied the right to marry
• Argued that absence of sex-specific language in
  the Minnesota statue
• Also said this denial was a denial of their due
  process and equal protection right under the
  constitution.
• Court said they found no support for these
  arguments.

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Significant Court Cases Cont

• Jones v. Hallahan (Kentucky, 1973)
• Lesbian couple argues denying license deprived
  them of three constitutional rights
• Right to marry
• Right to associate
• Right to freely exercise their religion
• Court said what they proposed does not authorize
  the issuance of a marriage license, because what
  they propose is not a marriage.
• Singer v. Hara (Washington, 1974)
• Gay couple argument, violated the state Equal
  Rights Amendment.
• Court disagree saying purpose of statue was to
  overcome discriminatory legal treatment between
  men and women on account of sex.

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Significant Court Cases Cont

• Adams v. Howerton (Colorado, 1973)
• Male American citizen and male Australian citizen
  challenged Board of Immigration Appeals refusal
  to recognize their marriage.
• Court noted the 1965 amendments to the
  Immigration Act, which expressively barred
  persons afflicted with sexual deviations,
  (homosexuals) from entry into this country.
• Court concluded that it was unlikely Congress
  intended to permit homosexual marriages for
  purposes of qualifying as a spouse of a citizen
• Thorton v. Timmers (Ohio, 1975)
• A lesbian couple were denied in an effort to
  receive a marriage license.
• Court concluded it is the express legislative
  intent that those persons who may be joined in
  marriage must be of different sexes.

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Significant Court Cases Cont

• De Santo v. Barnsley (Pennsylvania, 1984)
• Result of a couple breaking up and De Santo sued
  Barnsley for divorce
• Couple had a common-law marriage.
• Court threw out case stating that if PA
  common-law statue is to be expanded to include
  same-sex couples, the legislature will have to
  make that change.
• Matter of Estate of Cooper (New York, 1990)
• Cooper died, leaving bulk of his property to his
  ex-lover.
• Current lover sued to inherit as a surviving
  spouse under NYs inheritance laws.
• Court concluded only a lawfully recognized
  husband/wife qualifies as a surviving spouse and
  that persons of the same sex have no
  constitutional rights to enter into a marriage
  with each other.

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Significant Court Cases Cont

• Dean v. District of Columbia (Washington D.C,
  1995)
• A gay couple sued the district of Columbia for
  the right to get married.
• Court decided, under D.C. laws, that the district
  can refuse to grant marriage license to same-sex
  couples.
• Baker v. State (Vermont, 1999)
• Same-sex couples sued state of Vermont saying
  refusal to issue them marriage licenses violated
  Vermont Constitution and the state marriage laws
• Vermont Supreme Court declared that the
  constituion required the state to extend to
  same-sex couple same benefits and protections
  provided to opposite-sex couples.
• In response, state legislature passed the Vermont
  Civil Union law, which went into effect in July
  2000

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Significant Court Cases Cont

• Goodridge v. Department of Public health
  (Massachusettes, 2003)
• Massachusetts Supreme court held that the state
  law barring same-sex marriage was
  unconstitutional under the Massachusetts
  constitution
• Ordered legislature to remedy the discrimination
  within six months.
• In february 2004 the court ruled that offering
  civil unions instead of civil marriage would not
  meet the requirments set forth in Goodridge.

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DOMADefense Of Marriage Act

• DOMA does two things
• Defines the legal obligations of a US State in
  respect to other States marriage laws.
• No State is required by federal law to recognize
  any other States legal same-sex marriage.
• Defines the words
• Marriage A legal union of one man and one
  woman as husband and wife
• Spouse Refers only to a person of the opposite
  sex who is a husband or a wife

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Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage

• Conservative Christians and Judaists
• National Association for Research and Therapy for
  Homosexuals (NARTH)
• Religious affiliations of members include Roman
  Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Baha'i, Protestant, and
  secular humanists/atheists

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Same-Sex MarriagesThe Cons

• God wanted marriage to be between two peopleone
  man and one woman. (McMurtrys first criticism of
  marriage)
• There is no such thing as a homosexual person.
  We are all heterosexuals. (NARTHS Statement of
  Policy)
• Homosexuality can be cured through counseling,
  prayer, and reparative therapy.

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Biblical reasons

• Gen 221-25, 194Gods design of the first
  marriage Sodom and Gomorrah
• Lev 1822unlawful unions in Judaism
• Deut 2317-18further abominations
• Rom 126-27sin in New Testament
• Jude 17suffering vengeance of God

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Same-Sex MarriagesThe Pros

• We have no empirical proof that God exists
  therefore, we cannot institute a law based on
  religious beliefs.
• The APA removed homosexuality from its list of
  mental illnesses found in the DSM-III in 1973.
• The World Health Organization removed
  homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses
  in 1981.
• As of 2001, homosexuality is considered a normal,
  natural, and fixed sexual orientation.
• Legalizing same-sex marriages could lower the
  rate of any promiscuity among homosexual couples

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Same-Sex MarriagesThe Pros

• Homosexuality is not a disease or disorder and
  thus does not need to be cured. All attempts to
  change a person's sexual orientation have
  consistently failed.

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Other Arguments Against Same-Sex Marriage

• Children are tainted mentally, emotionally and
  sexually by homosexual parents.
• The cost of health benefits for marrying
  homosexuals will cause a fiscal shock to
  businesses nationwide.

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Other Arguments Children

• (How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents
  Matter?
• Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz
• American Sociological Review, 2001
• Pulls from 21 psychological studies published
  between 1981-1998

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Other Arguments Children

• Gender Behavior/Preferences
• No significant departures from traditional gender
  roles or sex identifications
• Males a little less aggressive
• Self-Esteem and Psychological Well-Being
• No significant behavioral or cognitive
  differences.
• Added stress due to external pressures (students)

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Other Arguments Children

• Sexual Behavior/Sexual Preferences
• Young adult child has had same-sex relationship
• Increase (6-25, 0-20)
• Young adult child thought about same-sex
  relationship
• Increase (14-22), (3-18)
• Number of partners from puberty to young
  adulthood
• Female Significant Increase
• Male Questionably Significant Decrease

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Cost of Same-Sex MarriageA Business Perspective

• Study done by The Human Rights Campaign
  Foundation and The Institute for Gay and Lesbian
  Strategic Studies
• Data Sources
• Census 2000
• The National Compensation Survey
• County Business Patterns
• The Kaiser Family Foundation of Health Research
  and Education Trust

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Cost of Same-Sex MarriageA Business Perspective
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Cost of Same-Sex MarriageA Business Perspective

• Results
• Health Care Benefits
• 96 percent of firms will have no additional
  costs.
• 290k out of 5mil will have one new spouse.
• Vast majority of business under 19 employees will
  see no change.
• Retirement Benefitstwo kinds
• Contribution plans will have no increase in cost
  because they are independent of family status.
• Defined plans will have minimal cost increase
  because one plan is reduced to support the
  spouses plan.

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Marriage Versus Civil Union

• Marriage is supported by the federal government
  and all states recognize the marriages of all
  other states.
• Except gay marriage (DOMA)
• Civil Unions are a state function and federal
  government does not dictate if one states unions
  are recognized by another.
• Vermont is the only state that has Civil Unions

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Marriage Versus Civil UnionThe Difference

• The right to make a decision on a partners
  behalf in a medical emergency.
• Denied outside of state
• The right to take up to 12 weeks of leave from
  work to care for a seriously ill partner (Family
  and Medical Leave Act of 1993).
• Denied outside of state
• The right to petition for immigration.
• Denied

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Marriage v Civil Union Cont

• The right to assume parenting rights and
  responsibilities, including legal responsibility
  to pay child support.
• Denied outside of state
• The right to share equitably all jointly held
  property and debt.
• Denied outside of state
• The right to inherit property in absence of a
  will.
• Taxed at federal level

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Marriage v Civil Union Cont

• Income tax
• File jointly at state, separate at federal
• Property transfer and gifts
• Taxed at federal
• Social Security benefits related to family and
  death.
• Denied

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Progress A Touchy Legal IssueThe San Francisco
Case

• Feb. 12, 2004
• Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco orders the
  issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples
  on the grounds that limits to marriage are in
  violation of the California State Constitution.
• March 11, 2004
• California Supreme Court orders immediate halt to
  same-sex marriages in San Francisco pending a
  decision on the issue.

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The San Francisco Case

• Aug. 12, 2004
• California Supreme Court rules that San Francisco
  lacked authority to issue same-sex marriage
  licenses and invalidates licenses of over 4,000
  couples married in February 2004.

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Group Conclusion

• Based on empirical and legal evidence, the
  legalization and acceptance of same-sex marriages
  would not be detrimental to American society.
• Successful in other countries
• Health professionals agree homosexuality is
  normative i.e. not a mental illness
• Not damaging to children
• Fiscally sound
• Beneficial to homosexuals!!!
• More protection under the law

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Group Conclusion

• However, based on a moral decision, it should be
  known that not all group members feel that
  same-sex marriages should be condoned and
  legalized.
• This reinforces the idea that homosexuality is
  and always will be a personal and moral decision
  that comes from within and is formed from ones
  environment.

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Final WordYour Morality, Your Judgment

• Lawrence v. Texas moral autonomyJustice
  Kennedy writes
• Liberty protects the person from unwarranted
  government intrusion into a dwelling or other
  private places. In our tradition the State is
  not omnipresent in the home. And there are other
  spheres of our lives and existence, outside the
  home, where the State should not be a dominant
  presenceLiberty presumes an autonomy of self
  that includes the freedom of thought, belief,
  expression, and certain intimate contact.

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Sources

• Merin, Yuval. (2002). Equality for Same-Sex
  Couples The Legal Recognition of Gay
  Partnerships in Europe and the United States.
  Chicago The University of Chicago Press.
• Same-sex marriage Preliminary Statistics. Oregon
  Department of Human Services. Retrieved March 19,
  2005 from the World Wide Web http//www.healthore
  gon.org/chs/certif/ssmarry.cfm
• Statistics Number of Same-Sex Couples Married.
  Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved March 19, 2005
  from the World Wide Web http//www.hrc.org/Templa
  te.cfm?SectionCenterCONTENTID17420TEMPLATE/
• ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
• http//www.psych.org/pnews/97-11-21/isay.html
• http//www.religioustolerance.org/hom_nart.htm
• http//www.religioustolerance.org/hom_prof.htm