11/18/14 GAY MARRIAGE Felicia and Kyle BACKGROUND & HISTORY The LGBT movement started in the 70’s with the Stonewall Riots. Stonewall Riots led to the formation of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) which also opposed consumer culture, militarism, racism and sexism. "We are a revolutionary group of men and women formed with the realization that complete sexual liberation for all people cannot come about unless existing social institutions are abolished. We reject society's attempt to impose sexual roles and definitions of our nature.“ – statement of purpose made by the GLF GLF Ends in 1972 due to too many topics to focus on homosexuality “issue” **GLF was the first group in recorded history to use the word “Gay” in their title. 1 11/18/14 STONEWALL RIOTS • On June 28, 1969 the Stonewall Inn (Greenwich Village, NYC) was raided by police without warrants, claiming the bar was serving alcohol without correct licensing • A group of angry customers stood up for their right to be in this private establishment, (public displays of Homosexuality being illegal at the time) which led to a riot that night and many more to follow. MORE BACKGROUND 1991 the Baehr lawsuit (Hawaii) was filed after about 20 years of no legal progress in gay rights 1996 Hawaiian government rules not allowing same sex marriage would be unconstitutional but the public voted against (69% to 31%) In 1996 68% of American population opposed same sex marriages, recent polls say 70% are okay with it Massachusetts becomes the first state to allow gay marriage in 2004 2010 Congress repeals “don’t ask don’t tell” 2 11/18/14 The annual report from the Department of Health and Human Services tallied 402,378 children in the foster care system as of September 30, 2013, up from about 397,000 a year earlier Since same sex couples cant have children, this number could go down drastically if every state allowed same sex marriage seeing as how it is easier to adopt children if you’re married (by the way that’s only the US statistics….) ARGUMENTS FOR Marriage is a legally or formally recognized union of partners in a relationship Marriage entitles partners to each others property, credit, taxes, and medical decisions. Gay and straight partners are in relationships Therefore both gay and straight should be allowed to legally or formally marry and receive the proper entitlements from one another ARGUMENTS FOR 3 11/18/14 The U.S. Constitution was wrote by the U.S. founding fathers The U.S. Constitution is the base of our legal system The U.S. Constitution attempts to “[e]stablish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” Liberty is the freedom of choice and freedom from arbitrary control Defining marriage by sex of the couple would be arbitrary Therefore denying someone the right to marry strictly on the sex of the couple would go against the ideals and laws expressed by U.S. Constitution and the founding fathers ARGUMENTS FOR ARGUMENTS FOR 33 states have freedom for both gay and straight couples to marry In a democracy majority rules 62 per cent of American's live in these states Therefore Americans have let their will be know, and both gay and straight couples should be allowed to marry 4 11/18/14 http://www.freedomtomarry.org/states/ In 2011 there were over 38,000 diagnoses of HIV in adolescent and adult males; only about 10,000 in children and women. The graph on the right shows the increase in rates of cases of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in males having sex with males. (From 1990-2012)-------! Comes from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/ statistics/basics/index.html ARGUMENTS AGAINST 5 11/18/14 Marriage is a religious rite Religions have the right to decide what they believe The U.S. Constitution protects the freedom of religion Therefore if any religion deems gay marriage wrong the government should not impose that religion to change its views ARGUMENTS AGAINST Separation of the church and state is the one ideal of our country Marriage is an idea of religion Civil unions are a joining of two people by law Marriage licenses are law and church working together Therefore in order to keep church and state separate the state should not offer marriage licenses to anyone only civil union contracts ARGUMENTS AGAINST 6 11/18/14 Do you agree with gay marriage? Do you think the government should issue anyone marriage licenses, or should all couples be issued civil union certificates? Do you think of marriage as a religious act? Do you think religions should feel pressure to change there traditions? Do you believe in the separation of church and state? QUESTIONS? SOURCES http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/03/how-same-sex-marriagecame-to-be http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2009/06/449-stonewall.html http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/gay_liberation_front.html http://www.adoptuskids.org/ http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats12/figures/x.htm http://www.freedomtomarry.org/states 7