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Abstract
Same-sex marriage is a marriage between persons of the same sex. To date, there are same-sex marriage in 16 countries and in some U.S. states and Mexico. First same-sex marriage has been introduced in 2001 in the Netherlands. Same-sex marriage should be distinguished from various forms of same-sex civil unions, which are separate institute of law and often have significant limitations when compared to marriage. At the same time, same-sex marriages involve same-sex couples access to the same legal institution of marriage, and who have a heterosexual couples. In this case, there are cases where same-sex marriage also imposed some conditions restricting the rights of same-sex spouses as compared to opposite-sex.
The fact of registration of marriage for a couple of fixes various specific rights: the right to joint property , the right to alimony, the right to inheritance, social and health insurance, tax rebates and credits, the right to a name, the right not to testify in court against a spouse, the right to speak of a trustee behalf of a spouse in the event of incapacity due to health, the right to dispose of the body in case of death of a spouse, the right to co- parenting, and foster care and other rights not enjoyed by non-registered couples.
The Position of the Supporters and Opponents of Same-sex Marriages
Supporters of same-sex marriage argue that marriage registration is a legal action , regardless of religious norms (in most modern states the legal and ecclesiastical decoration marriage occur separately ) , and that the law should follow the social changes that lead to the elimination of inequality between people - as and there over the past centuries , when gradually abolished the previously existing prohibitions on marriage registration (for example, between spouses, belonging to different social classes , religions or races ) . Especially, if the state is constitutionally secular. According to supporters, the arguments against same-sex unions, pointing to the traditions and religious norms should be interpreted as pressure on the secular state or the selective application of the law.
Opponents of same-sex marriage believe that the recognition of the state and the registration of same-sex marriage changes the principles of civil law , which replaced the words "husband" and " wife ", " father " and "mother " in the asexual and general terms (" one spouse " and "spouse 2 "" parent 1 "and" parent 2 ") . They also argue that at the same time abolished sexual features and revised the principle of human identity : gender differences and based on it the familial relationship giving rise to a new form of communication - the "social" does not depend on the reality of human nature and not based on gender, but on the lifestyle and sexual preferences
Religion and Homosexuality
Homosexual relationships are seen as sin in the traditional faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In the second half of the XIX century, the parallel changes in social consciousness, began leaking liberal attitude towards homosexuality revision of the Jews and the Christians. Currently, some of the Christian churches and trends in Judaism (as well as a small part of the liberal movements in Islam) abandoned the traditional view of homosexuality. In classical Buddhism homosexuality is defined as sexual misconduct
Attitudes toward homosexuality among believers in various countries can be very different. The most intensive case studies in this area are conducted in the United States, where recent years there have heated discussions about the attitude towards homosexuality and, in particular, on the possibility of non-or same-sex marriages.
Christianity and Homosexuality
Throughout Christian history, Christianity considered homosexuality as a sin, and its cause (as a general cause of any sin) was attributed to distortion of human nature and its tendency to sin after sin. This view of homosexuality is contained in the official position of the Catholic Church, the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church, the ancient Eastern Churches, and a number of Protestant churches (including the Church of Seventh-day Adventists, the majority of Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal churches).
However, at present, a number of liberal Protestant churches and the bulk of the Old Catholic Churches do not consider monogamous same-sex relationships sinful or immoral. In some of these churches, as well as in some others open homosexuals are allowed to priestly ministry, there are precedents for the ordination of homosexuals in the bishops. Disagreements on issues related to same-sex marriage and the ordination of open homosexuals have caused heated debate in other churches.
Sources
Bass, Ellen and Kate Kaufman. Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth and their Allies. New York: HarperPerennial, 2012.
"Stances of Faiths on LGBT Issues: African Methodist Episcopal Church". The Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
