Same-sex marriage laws in the United States and California

Political Aspects of Gay Marriage in the United States

Gay marriage is a contentious subject in the United States and there has been much in the way of debate in relation to whether gay marriages should be acknowledged as such or if they should remain simply 'civil unions' from the legal perspective. This present study seeks to answer the questions of: (1) what is the status of the rights of gays to marry in the U.S.; 92) what is the status of gay marriage in the state of California?; and (3) what are the specific rights and benefits of gays to marry in the U.S.

SAME SEX MARRIAGE LICENSE LAWS

The work of Mello (2004) entitled: "Legalizing Gay Marriage" relates that the state of Vermont was the first of all U.S. states to institute gay civil unions. The work of Stritof and Stritof (2009) entitled: "Same Sex Marriage License Laws" reports the status quo of same sex marriage license laws in the fifty U.S. states and it is related that same sex marriage is banned in the majority of U.S. states although some U.S. states allow gay couples to enter into a 'civil union' which is similar to marriage but is the legal institution that has been appointed for gay couples who want to legally bind themselves to one another. The UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies work entitled: "Same-Sex Marriage in California" states that the view that "marriage is a legally recognized union of one man and one woman" is a view that is "deeply embedded in moral and religious beliefs..." In the United States. In 1996 Congress denied federal recognition to same-sex marriages in the "Defense of Marriage Act" and 37 states followed in passing their own versions of this act.

III. OTHER SAME-SEX MARRIAGE VIEWS

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life work entitled: "Same-Sex Marriage: Redefining Marriage Around the World" states that the 2006 European Commission study states findings that "a plurality of people in the European Union (49%) oppose gay marriage. Yet, as in the United States, the public remains divided on the issue, with 44% favoring same-sex marriage." (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 2009)

SUMMARY & CONCLUSION

The issue of whether marriage should be allowed between gay couples is the focus of debate not only the U.S. states but as well is at issue internationally in the countries of the European Union. Civil Unions afford gay couples the same rights are as vested in married heterosexual couples and is simply a legal form of binding two people together, though while not termed to be 'marriage' functions in precisely the same manner from a legal perspective. While it is the contention of some proponents of gay marriage that gay couples should be allowed to enter into marriage, the truth is that in many U.S. states, the 'Civil Union' is the manner in which these couples may legally bind themselves to one another and in reality there is no substantial difference between the 'Civil Union' status of couples as compared to those of heterosexual couples who are married to one another.