Gay Marriage Essay Samples

The gay community consisting of lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender are a group of supportive individuals, subcultures and organizations that are united by civil rights movements and a common culture. They construct some form of antidote to homophobia, transphobia, heterosexism, sexualism, conformist and biphopia pressures thought to exist within the larger society. Gay marriage therefore refers to marriage between persons of the same sex. Gay marriage began being a subject of political debate in the 1990s when several states begun questioning if their constitution allowed persons of the same sex to get married. This triggered the federal government to protect the socially conservative states from not recognizing gay marriages conducted in other states. This issue was debated by the congress leading to the passing of the Defense of Marriage Act (1996) that was made up of two components and received bipartisan support. The first component was the assertion that a state does not have to recognize gay marriage conducted in another state and the second was the definition of marriage as the union of one woman and one man for the purposes of centralized laws. Proposal for amendment of the Act by conservatives citing its capacity to be overturned by a court was not successful as it did not pass through the senate. Despite the ongoing debates about gay marriage at the senate, other states such as Massachusetts ruled against bans on same sex marriage and begun issuing same-sex marriage certificates by the year 2004. However, while other states were accepting same sex marriage other states were against it. By 2008, thirty states had voted against same sex marriage with other extending to domestic partnerships and civil unions being illegal. Presently, the debate continues to with candidates basically asked three questions; what is the definition of marriage, should the federal government be or not be involved in marriage and finally, a candidate’s stand on the issue.