Gay Marriage Should Remain Legal in California

Facts: In 2000, California voters adopted Proposition 22, defining marriage as a relationship only between a man and a woman. The California Supreme Court invalidated Proposition 22 and California began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Proponents of Proposition 8, who opposed same-sex marriage, collected signatures and filed petitions to get Proposition 8 on the ballot. In November 2008, California voters approved Proposition 8, "which added language to the California Constitution that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman" (Santoro & Wirth, 2013). Two same-sex couples applied for marriage licenses and were denied, then brought suit under 42 U.S.C.S. ยง 1983, based on the idea that Proposition 8 violated equal protection. The State of California refused to argue in favor of Proposition 8 and the original proponents of Proposition 8 sought to defend the law. In May of 2009, Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional by a California District Court, which held that it violated both the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the trial court's decision. The case then came before the Supreme Court. However, the State of California is not defending Proposition 8; instead, a mix of private parties is defending the law. This has led to questions about standing as well as the constitutional issues in the case.

In an ever changing atmosphere where there are numerous definitions of family, why would it be important to have the right to have an official union? That civil right, to same sex couples, means that they are recognized equally to all other couples in this nation. In “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage”, Theodore Olson discusses California’s Proposition 8 and its ramifications on the value of marriage. Olson states, “Marriage is one of the basic building blocks of our neighborhoods and our nation”. Same sex couples want to share in this value that having the right to marry gives them. Legalizing same-sex marriage according to Olson would, “represent the culmination of our nation’s commitment to equal rights” (Olson, 76). Having all the aspects of a model family are just as important to all types of couples in today’s diverse

On June 4, 2008, the plaintiffs in this case include fifteen same-sex couples who wish to marry in California and support groups for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Californians. They were denied many times; however, now before the California Supreme Court, they argue that “California has long led the nation in recognizing that constitutional provisions guaranteeing equal protection, privacy, due process and freedom of association and expression require that lesbian and gay people, like all people, be treated fairly under the law.” Nonetheless these protections, California has denied same-sex couples the right to marry. That denial, they argue, violates the California Constitution.

It wasn’t until October 12, 2007, that governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill approved by state law makers that would legalize gay marriage. On May 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution protects a fundamental “right to marry” that would also extend to same sex marriage. The people were outraged saying that same sex marriages went against their religion on their views of a traditional marriage. People also argued that gay marriage went against the constitution as well because people could no longer have free exercise of religion. According to the Huffington Post, gay marriage, “Protects the free expression of religion, as supporters of Proposition 8 were worried that Gay Rights advocates were not affording them the same courtesy-to live and believe as they please-as the Gay and Lesbian community was/is demanding.” All these events eventually lead to picketing against gay marriage and the voice of the American people was starting to be heard on this

I contacted the Pension Board, I was told that they needed a notification from HR before they could give me information about my annuity options. Therefore,

Ac In California the citizens approved an amendment to the California Constitution. This amendment was written as "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." This change to the California Constitution had been reviewed by the California Supreme Court before this change. The court ruled that before this change the Constitution had guarantees from the right to marriage for both heterosexual and homosexual regardless of a person’s sexual orientation (Gonzalez, 2010). With support from both the citizens and the State government California is helping pave the way for other states to stop the lack of rights and discrimination LGBT face.

In our nation, the battle still continues over marriage equality. In 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to get married. 18,000 same-sex couples were married throughout the state. Six months later, voters passed Proposition 8, a ballot initiative, which defined marriage as between one man and one man in California. In the article published by Marriage Equality USA, Prop 8 Hurt My Family – Ask me how, discusses Proposition 8 before it was overturned. Marriage Equality USA describes their selves, as: “A national organization whose mission is to secure legally recognizes civil marriage equality for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation” (p. 69). Marriage Equality USA illustrates that Proposition 8 caused Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) individual, family member and straight allies experiences homophobia, verbal abuse and physical abuse. Marriage Equality USA decided to write this essay in hopes that the California Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8.

San Francisco has the most male to male marriage, while Oakland has the most woman to woman marriage. Just like other things, the people from California are now more open minded about this matter, not only in two of the major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles but all the other regions in the state support same-sex marriage “more than six in 10 residents in the San Francisco Bay Area (73%, up 15 points since 2008) and Los Angeles (64%, up 20 points) favor allowing same-sex marriage”. The support or acceptance toward same-sex marriage increased from men and women from all ages; from young adults to elderly

Gay marriages are highly debated and opposed. In California the opposition to gay marriage enjoyed a win by having legislators reconsider banning gay marriage. Through rallying and other measurements the opposition of gay marriage is working to overturn same sex marriage. If legislation is overturned, it would allow marriage only between a man and a woman. This would also eliminate the right to civil unions by gays in the state. We must seek a solution to same sex marriage. Same sex marriage will continue to be an ongoing legal battle. It is important we find a solution that both sides of the argument agree on or come closest to a compromise between the two sides. (Gay Marriage Showdowns)

As we know, same-sex marriage has been discussed and argued for a long time. Within the controversial topic of gay rights, there’s no area more controversial than same-sex marriage. And all of us ask ourselves if same-sex marriage should be legal or not. But the fact is that we have to start thinking about it as a moral and religious topic. The government shouldn’t legalize the same-sex marriage because the

While the Federal Government denies gay and lesbian couples the right to marry, there are some state governments which allow same-sex couples the right to domestic partnerships, civil unions, and marriages. “Comparing marriage to civil unions and domestic partnerships is a bit like comparing diamonds to rhinestones” (Human

The law this state recently passed is Proposition 8, also known as the California Marriage Protection Act. In truth it isn’t just a law. Proposition 8 was recently passed by Californian legislature as a new amendment to their state constitution. This amendment forbids any same-sex marriage throughout the state of California. This California bill garnered a lot of support from many different sources. Much of the support that was behind this bill was religious in nature, especially by the Mormon group. However, not all of the support behind this bill was religious. There was also a number of political supporters, most notably Sen. John McCain. However, in his statement, he never actually said that he personally was against same-sex marriage. He only said that he supported Proposition 8 because it seemed like the majority of the constituency of California supported it. Bills and amendments like these have a significant effect on an average homosexual’s state of mind, as shown by a study:

In 2015, President Barack Obama announced that in all 50 states same-sex marriage was legal. Thousands, maybe millions, of queer people rejoiced and celebrated. They were able to marry the people they love the most, legally. The debate about same-sex marriage started in the 1970s, however before that time, no one discussed the idea of same-sex marriage. Baehr v. Miike was the first court as to rule “...excluding same-sex couples from marriage was discrimination” (lambdalegal.org). Three same-sex couples attempted to apply for marriage license in Hawaii, but were denied. Even though they met every requirement, there was one exception: being the same gender. As a result, they filed a lawsuit because they believed it was unconstitutional. The trial took six years, but eventually the state of Hawaii passed an amendment that allowed same-sex marriage. Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage on May 17, 2004 when the court case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health was presented. The Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders filed a case when they were denied a marriage license in 2001. According to them, denying the licenses was unconstitutional and the court’s decision was 4-3, in favor of same-sex marriage. Same-sex should continue to be legal because in the United States marriage is a basic right, therefore members of the gay community should have the same benefits as heterosexual couples, which decreases the suicide rate of people who are LGBTQ+.

In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled on a case about same-sex marriage, Obergfell v. Hodges. The final ruling (holding) of the case, stated by SCOTUSBlog, the fourteenth amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same-sex and also to recognize a marriage between two people of the same-sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed

What a great day it is to be writing about same-sex marriages! As of today, June 26th, 2015, same sex marriage is now legal in ALL fifty states. When I first started working on this project, same-sex marriages were not legal nationwide in the United States of America. In fact, it was only legal in a select few of the states. Because same sex-marriages are considered as queer and deviant, it has been a widely controversial issue. This problem, however, has finally been addressed by the supreme court and changes have been made for the better. We are now the twenty-first country on the globe to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. As a tribute for further support of this historical moment, here are some comparative statistics, logical reasoning, and pros about the legalization of same-sex marriages.