There is much to discuss on the topic of same-sex marriages, from their moral stance to the tax benefits they could bring. Many of these issues bare different weight in different states. Due to the full faith and credit clause, is a document is legal in one state, it has to be upheld in another. This is an issue that could cause many court cases as the recent allowance of same-sex marriages in several states, and the continued ban on them in others. However, this is not the main issue as I see it. It is far more important to look at the other benefits of being married. Not only are there tax benefits, but there are personal and private issues which are impacted. A married man can visit his husband in the ICU, a non-marries man can not. A married woman can pick of her wife's biological children from day care with out previous consent, a non-married woman can not. Finally, a married man can be told details of his husband if he were in an accident, if he is not married he is left in the dark. By having one state allow these marriages and one state ban them, it draws the question, which state's laws are better and should supersede the other?
Over the past few years I have seen men watch from a hallway away as their loved one dies and they can not be with them. this is not saying the new privacy laws are bad, just that they are exclusive of many people in the country. I have seen same-sex parents both be able to pick their children up from daycare and I have seen the devastated look when one of the parents is not allowed to and must get verbal consent by phone just to take their child home. Whether you agree with same-sex relationships or not, these situations do pose the emotional toll that is required to induce change to laws and have true equality in the nation.
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3 comments:
Nice post. What impact do you think California's recent decision to issue same-sex marriage licenses will have?
I agree with you that same-sex couples should have the same legal rights as any other couple wanting marriage.
You also brought up a good point at class, that we cannot force any religion to allow same-sex marriage if they feel it's wrong, but that there's nothing preventing the legal benefits of such a union
MS. Gelbman brings up a good point. With the fact that California is giving out marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and that other states must acknowledge them as legally binding, there is potential for an explosive situation which will no doubt be seen ing the supreme court very soon.
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