A Question of Equality

Marriage is one of mankind’s longest held institutions. Traditionally western marriages have been between one man and one woman joined together in a religious ceremony for life. Things are slowly beginning to change however; today many gay and lesbian couples are demanding the right to wed their partners as well. Of course this tends to fly in the face of conventional beliefs but I believe there is a strong case to be made for legalizing and recognizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

This battle has already been long raging in the states. It may surprise some to note that same-sex marriage is currently legal in two states, Connecticut and Massachusetts. In both instances same-sex marriage was legalized through the courts based upon a judge’s interpretation of the equal protection statutes in their prospective state constitutions. Unfortunately, and this is the innate problem with each state getting to define marriage individually, the ‘gay’ marriages of Connecticut and Massachusetts are not recognized by any other states. That means if a gay coupled were to be married in one of those states but later decided to move out of that state their marriage would not be valid in their new area of residence. The federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage either so even if a gay couple are legally married in their state they could still not jointly file a federal tax return or share federal benefits.

Then you have states like California and others who have gone so far as to amend their state constitutions to ban gay marriage after similar judicial rulings. If you can’t change the judge’s ruling, change the constitution on which the judge based that decision.

The California case in particular was a crushing defeat for gay rights advocates. One of the more liberal states, it was widely seen as one of the few states where a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage could be stopped. It was not to be however. Even here the majority sided against acceptance and for discrimination. The Mormon Church was one of the strongest proponents behind proposition 8, the proposed amendment to the California constitution defining marriage between one man and one woman. This seems rather odd if you take the time to think about. Weren’t the Mormons similarly persecuted in the early days when they wished to be allowed to practice polygamy, persecuted to such an extent in fact that they were actually forced to leave the Eastern US for places such as California? Yet they would still gladly force the same fate on their gay brethren. Lesson clearly not learned.

The battles lost in the majority of US states have taught us a valuable lesson though. The battle for equal rights will not be one through the people. The majority do not support gay marriage. Thus, like during the civil rights movement it will have to be won through the courts. The Supreme Court to be more exact, for it is here we shall win the war.

 The 14th Amendment provides for equal protection for all and should therefore offer protection to same-sex couples who wish to marry. Of course the Supreme Court has yet to rule as such and don’t seem inclined to in the near future but that won’t change the inevitable.

There is also federal precedent as it relates to marriage laws in this country which happens to be the fly in the ointment for those who would argue marriage is under the sole jurisdiction of individual states and not a federal issue. In the case Lovings vs. Virginia, the Supreme Court rules that a single state could not disallow or invalidate interracial marriage because marriage equality was a fundamental right guaranteed by the 14^th Amendment whether a single states constitution agreed or not .

In closing I must say I am disappointed at the recent losses in the movement towards equal marriage rights for all but all hope is not lost. There are many more battles in this war to fight and I believe equality will prevail. Time is on our side, views about gay marriage have been steadily changing and in time our day will come.