As of November 7, 2012 gay marriage has been legalized in 9 US States (ME, MA, CT, IA, VT, NH, NY, WA). 31 states have constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. 6 states have laws banning gay marriage.
According to a new ABC News-Washington Post poll, 51% of Americans support gay marriage. The survey is reportedly the fifth consecutive news organization poll since March 2011 to find that 50% of respondents believe gay marriage should be recognized as legally valid.
The results of the ABC/Washington Post survey also includes some interesting findings about the ages and political leanings. More than 6 in 20 young adults, and 3 out of 5 liberals are in favor of marriage equality, while two-thirds of senior citizens and 81% of “very conservative” respondents oppose gay marriage, according to ABC.
Some pro and con quotes that I found on ProCon.org website sheds light on some of the divided positions actively playing out currently:
Barack Obama, JD, 44th President of the United States, stated during a May 9, 2012 interview for ABC News with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts: “When I think about members of my own staff who are incredibly committed, in monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet, feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is gone, because they’re not able to commit themselves in a marriage; at a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married...When I meet gay and lesbian couples, when I see how caring they are, how much love they have in their hearts, how they’re taking care of their kids, when I hear from them the pain they feel that somehow they are still considered less than full citizens when it comes to their legal rights, then, for me, I think it has just tipped the scales in that direction.”
David Blankenhorn, MA, Founder and President of the Institute for American Values, stated in his June 22, 2012 New York Times op-ed titled “How My View on Gay Marriage Changed,” stated: “In my 2007 book, ‘The Future of Marriage,’ and in my 2010 court testimony concerning Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, I took a stand against gay marriage. But as a marriage advocate, the time has come for me to accept gay marriage and emphasize the good it can do...I don’t believe that opposite-sex and same-sex relationships are the same, but I do believe, with growing numbers of Americans, that the time for denigrating or stigmatizing same-sex relationships is over. Whatever one’s definition of marriage, legally recognizing gay and lesbian couples and their children is a victory for basic fairness.
Mark Osler, JD, Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas, wrote in his May 19, 2012 article for CNN.com’s “Belief” blog, titled “My Take: The Christian Case for Gay Marriage: “I am a Christian, and I am in favor of gay marriage. The reason I am for gay marriage is because of my faith. What I see in the Bible’s accounts of Jesus and his followers is an insistence that we don’t have the moral authority to deny others the blessing of holy institutions like baptism, communion, and marriage. God, through the Holy Spirit, infuses those moments with life, and it is not ours to either give or deny to others...It is not our place, it seems, to sort out who should be denied a bond with God and the Holy Spirit of the kind that we find through baptism, communion, and marriage...The question before us now is not whether homosexuality is a sin, but whether being gay should be a bar to baptism or communion or marriage.”
Lamba Legal, the largest legal organization in the US committed to the civil rights of gays and lesbians, wrote the following in the article “Marriage,” available at www.lambdalegal.org (accessed Sept. 12, 3012): “Regardless of how completely their lives are intertwined or how deeply they care for each other, individuals in same-sex relationships frequently are treated like strangers under the law – and none are afforded full equality in this country. This unequal treatment causes concrete and devastating harm. It most deeply affects those with children, those with fewer financial resources, people of color, senior citizens or those with less access to education. In addition, the government’s denial of legal statuses and protections available to different-sex couples brands lesbians and gay men as second class.”
Marshall Forstein, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School was quoted in the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission’s Dec. 10, 2008 final report titled “The Legal, Medical, Economic & Social Consequences of New Jersey’s Civil Union Law” available at www.state.nj
Joseph Ratzinger, DTh, Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the time of the quote, wrote in the July 3, 2003 report approved by Pope John Paul II “Considerations Regarding Proposals to give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, “available at www.vatican.va: “God has willed to give the union of man a woman a special participation in his work of creation. Thus he blessed the man and woman with the words ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ (Gen 1:28). Therefore, the Creator’s plan, sexual complementarity and fruitfulness belong to the very nature of marriage...There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law. Homosexual acts ‘close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
The American Bar Association’s House of Delegates passed “Resolution 111” by a voice vote with only one person voting against it on Aug. 10, 2010 (available at abanet.org): “The American Bar Association urges state, territorial, and tribal governments to eliminate all of their legal barriers to civil marriage between two persons of the same sex who are otherwise eligible to marry. Many gay and lesbian people seek a committed, lifelong partnership with another adult, and to raise children. ABA policy has kept pace with our society’s evolving understanding that gay and lesbian people are healthy, functioning contributors to our society who face discrimination – both as individuals and as families...This proposed recommendation will signal the ABA’s support for the extension of equal marriage rights to same-sex couples under state, territorial, and tribal law, as consistent with our country’s constitutional principles of equal protection and due process, as well as states’ strong interest in protecting and fostering the family unit...In addition, the denial of these important protections harms the hundreds of thousands of children being raised by same-sex couples. Treating same-sex couples differently not only tangibly harms those individuals, couples, and their families, but also stigmatizes them and their children by deeming them unworthy to enjoy fundamental and equal citizenship rights.”
These are just a sampling of current opinions showing a growing number of people addressing and becoming more conscious of the multiple issues facing gays and lesbians. Most importantly, I feel, are the human rights and equality issues. As our country grapples with these concerns, progress is being made state by state as these rights are being reflected in our political system and acknowledged by more and more people. We are becoming a forefront issue in people’s minds. It is an interesting time.
