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SAME-SEX MARRIAGES.   Term Paper ID:29919 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Defines Gay & Lesbian marriages.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Defines Gay & Lesbian marriages. Discusses issues involved and arguments against & in favor of same-sex marriage. Discrimination against homosexuals. Civil marriage beneficiaries. Pressures of social conformity. Cites studies on the effects on children of same-sex marriages. Paper Introduction: This research examines the subject of gay and lesbian marriages. The research will set forth a working definition of the subject and then make a balanced presentation of the issue fronts involved in advocacy and opposition to it, with a view, however, toward demonstrating the basis for support for such marriages as a matter of sanctioned public policy. Background for discourse of same-sex marriage can be dated from 1969, the year of the now-famous Stonewall riot in New York City, which fostered a generation of social activism and group advocacy on the part of homosexuals. Massachusetts US Representative Barney Frank, a self-identified homosexual, has been quoted on the issue in this way: "I don't understand how it hurts anybody else if two people want to be legally . . . responsible for each other" (Pearcey & Colson, 1996, p. 104). Pearc Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, passed by a RepublicanCongress and signed by a Democratic president, restricts legal marriage toheterosexuals "and stipulates that, contrary to the Constitution's 'fullfaith and credit' clause, if one state allows gay marriage, other statesneed not recognize the union" (Gillespie, 1996, p. (1994). Gay marriage: The arguments and the motives. The Datalounge. Gillespie, N. 8). Since 1996, 35states have enacted similar laws, which define marriage as unions ofheterosexual couples only. (2 1, January 23). As for the charge that gay children comefrom gay parents, research into a so-called "gay gene" emphasizes theimportance of both heredity and environment (Mann, 1994). But homosexuals may be obliged (for example) totestify against their partners; spouses cannot be so compelled (Bidstrup,2 1). Otherwise engaged. Terms of dis-endearment: Former E*Trader is sued in bitter battle @home.(25 January 2 1). Former first lady andnow Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is quoted thus: Marriage . New York Post. But such high-profile breakups andproperty litigation of longtime companions Jennifer Levinson and KathyLevinson (Terms, 2 1), known as activist promoters of gay marriage inCalifornia, do not argue the stability of same-sex marriage. To the assertion that marriage is legitimated as a platform forprocreation, Sullivan (2 1) answers that by that logic marriages ofchildless couples or those past childbearing age should be invalidated. Bidstrup, S. 18), and cites the fact that gays inDenmark, where civil unions have been legal since 1991, have a lowerdivorce rate than their straight counterparts. .responsible for each other" (Pearcey & Colson, 1996, p. In backlash vote, Vermont's house bans same-sex marriages. But the important fact to note is that just like in straight society, where such relationships also exist, they . News & WorldReport, 121, 75-8. . There is also evidence that gay parentsdisproportionately rear gay children (Shaprio, 1996). Massachusetts US Representative Barney Frank, a self-identified homosexual, has been quoted on the issue in this way: "I don'tunderstand how it hurts anybody else if two people want to be legally . Shapiro, J.P. He says that "pioneers are rarely disrespectfulof the land they newly occupy" (p. Marriage. "Marriage, under any interpretation of American constitutionallaw," he says, "is among the most basic civil rights" (p. One does not have to advocate gay marriage to see that it has upsetgovernance; it complicates an already problematic legal environmentregarding such matters as inheritance disposition, parentage, and kinship.Children of homosexual parents routinely suffer social ostracism ortaunting (Shapiro, 1996). Further, it is because mostpeople are born into stable-marriage situations that homosexuals "seek tobe a part of them." This point is reinforced elsewhere: The stereotype has it that gays are promiscuous, unable to form lasting relationships, and the relationships that do form are shallow and uncommitted. 18). And it would be impossible to get a divorce (Sullivan, 2 , p. Encyclopedia Britannica 2 CD-ROM. The arguments favoring same-sex marriage as an institution of civiland religious life begin with analysis of the mutability of the institutionthrough the ages and the relegation of second-class rights status to anentire group of people based on sexual orientation. Sullivan criticizes "civil union" or "domestic partnership"construction, not with an eye on repeal but as specious coups for gayrights. 18). Ms. Magazine, 1 , 67-71. Shapiro citesstudies showing that "offspring of gays and lesbians are rarely confusedabout their own sexual identity" (Shapiro, 1996, p. (1996, September 16). Los Angeles Times. Chicago:Encyclopedia Britannica. Genes and behavior. Science, 264, 1687. Further,citing same-sex marriage advocacy as a species of dominant-culture pressurefor social conformity, one self-identified lesbian (Gomez, 2 ) arguesthat loving relationships do not require the artificiality of marriage. Wedding bell news. (1996, October 28). Healso points to transformation of family structures more generally, awayfrom the husband-wife-children ideal and toward single-sex adoptions andfatherless households. U.S. Sullivan argues that, given equal access to civil marriage,homosexuals will not take the privileges of marriage for granted but willrevitalize the institution. Arguments against homosexual marriage cite cross-cultural historicaluniversality of marriage as an organizing principle of social and personalcompanionship, procreation, sexual activity, care, education, andinheritance rights of children (Marriage, 1994-2 ). (2 1). . Bell, R. (2 ). Nevada and Nebraska banned recognition of civilunions, fostering a legal challenge to Nebraska by the American CivilLiberties Union. Retrieved from the World Wide Web 25April 2 1, at USA Jewish,http://www.usajewish.com/scripts/usaj/paper/Article.asp?ArticleID=1 79. . Battle over gay marriage wagednationwide. Theresearch will set forth a working definition of the subject and then make abalanced presentation of the issue fronts involved in advocacy andopposition to it, with a view, however, toward demonstrating the basis forsupport for such marriages as a matter of sanctioned public policy. . In 2 1, the Vermont House of Representatives, though notthe Vermont Senate, voted to ban recognition. Mann, C. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. 18). A-18-19. Arguments that homosexuals criminally recruit children for their useand that gay parents will raise children to be gay are inconsistent withthe fact that the vast majority of all sex crimes are committed byheterosexual men against females. According to a reader survey sponsored by a gay-advocacy newsletter,43.3% strongly agree and another 35.2% agree that "gay men and women sufferemotionally from being denied the structure and social reinforcementaccorded by marriage" (Barillas, 2 1). This research examines the subject of gay and lesbian marriages. Legalizing gay marriage could not only forestallclassmate taunting but also teach many people about the value of tolerance.As for the stability of heterosexual versus homosexual unions in matters ofemotional and financial relationships, Sullivan cites the well-documentedemotional and financial instability of heterosexual unions, not least thatof Sen. While Hawaii, Rhode Island,California, and Washington have civil-union introduced bills to establishcivil unions, California has a defense-of-marriage statute on the books. (2 1, March17). Sullivan, A. The Crime Library. (1996, December). exist primarily among the very young (Bidstrup, 2 1). . Clinton. . (1994-2 ). . 76). There is also empirical evidence that if children ofhomosexual parents suffer, it is not because of their parents' livingarrangements but rather awareness that homosexuals are considered socialmisfits (Shapiro, 1996). Apersonal essay in hypertext. Civil union is "pernicious," akin to the separate-but-equal racismof the past. The law allows everyone from child-support-delinquentfathers to divorced, imprisoned, sterile, and insane persons to marry,meaning that civil law "draws the line at homosexuals" (Sullivan, 2 1, p.19). Sullivan explains thatmarriage, like other socially constructed institutions, "has undergone vastchanges over the last two millennia." He continues: If marriage were the same today as it has been for 2, years, it would be possible to marry a twelve-year-old you had never met, to own a wife as property and dispose of her at will, or to imprison a person who married someone of a different race. . Arguments for and against same-sex marriage made on religious grounds alone appear to be irreconcilable.Accordingly, the focus herein is on civil marriage. References Barillas, C. Reason, 28, 8-9. Retrieved from the World Wide Web 25 April2 1, at http://www.pe.net/~bidstrup/marriage.htm. Retrieved fromthe World Wide Web 25 April 2 1, athttp://www.crimelibrary.com/serial/gacy/gacymain.htm. Why not gay marriage?Christianity Today, 4 , 1 4. has got historic, religious, and moral content that goes back to the beginning of time, and I think a marriage is as a marriage has always been: between a man and a woman (Sullivan, 2 1, 18). In 2 , Vermont legalized so-called civilunions between same-sex couples, which institutionalized virtually allrights and responsibilities of reciprocal beneficiaries in civil marriagefor same-sex couples. 1 4). The story of serial sexual murderer of boys andmen, John Wayne Gacy, supports the view that homosexuals recruit youngpeople (Bell, 2 ). Pearcey andColson, who oppose homosexual marriage chiefly on religious grounds, notethat private acceptance of homosexuals "is not the same thing asnormalizing homosexuality by granting homosexuals a legal right to thepublic institution of marriage" (p. Nothing about grantinghomosexuals access to civil marriage legally penalizes heterosexualmarriage or rights status. Gomez, J. That beingso, any law that denies full access to the status accorded marriagestigmatizes a class of citizens, "adding to the cultural balkanization thatalready plagues American public life" (p. (2 , May 8). State of the Union--Why "civil union" isn'tmarriage. (2 , June-July). Background for discourse of same-sex marriage can be dated from 1969,the year of the now-famous Stonewall riot in New York City, which fostereda generation of social activism and group advocacy on the part ofhomosexuals. The New Republic, 36, 18. 1 4). Pearcey, N., & Colson, C. Kids with gay parents: as lawmakersbattle gay marriages, a look at how the children fare. Retrieved from the World Wide Web 25 April2 1, athttp://www.datalounge.com/datalounge/news/record.html?record=12768. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.