Submitted by: Submitted by 88burg0s
Views: 10
Words: 2366
Pages: 10
Category: Societal Issues
Date Submitted: 09/19/2016 01:09 AM
“We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness.” This quote was written by Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of
Independence, on July 4th, 1776. This country is supposed to be based on these ideals, yet we
know this is not always the case. The right for same sex couples to marry has been denied by
the majority of the states in the United States of America. Why should the government dictate
who a person can and cannot marry, based on gender? What gives heterosexual couples the
“privilege” to marry over someone who is just as committed and in love with a person of the
same sex? Same sex marriages should be legalized in all 50 states.
The struggle for same sex couples to marry in the United States dates back to the
1970’s. Jack Baker and James Michael McConnell applied for a marriage license in Minnesota
in 1972, but were denied it because they were a homosexual couple. A case was made, which
eventually presented its way to the Supreme Court where Baker and his partner’s request to get
a marriage license, was denied yet again. Eventually a Minnesota county granted their request
and they married the following year. At the time, most states had no sort of written law for the
prohibition of same sex marriages but after this case, many states began to implement them.
Maryland was the first state to recognize “only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid
in this state” (Maryland Family Law Section 2201). This had a domino effect on the entire
country and by 1994, 45 out of 50 states concurred with Maryland’s marriage law.
“In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court decided the case known as Baehr v. Lewin, and
reinstated a claim by three couples that it was unconstitutional for the State of Hawaii to deny ...