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Same-Sex Marriage

Throughout the continuous political agitation of the gay and lesbian movement and its success in other issues such as the custody of children and the right of adoption, same-sex couples have persistently fought for the legal endorsement of same-sex marriages (Canavan 109). Since their inception during the late 1960s, lesbian and gay rights' groups have incorporated same-sex marriages as one of their demands for legal reforms (Barclay and Fisher 332). Even though they have not succeeded in legalizing same-sex marriages, gay and lesbian groups have made significant progress in acquiring the legal and social endorsement of the validity of homosexual relationships over the last decades. For instance, homosexuals have won court cases that awarded them custody of children and granted them the right to adopt children. Just as importantly, on December 13, 1982, the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco passed the first ordinance that entitled the partners of homosexuals to health benefits, which set the precedent for similar ordinances in other cities and states (Canavan 110).

In response to the progress made by the gay and lesbian movement, many conservative and religious groups have placed pressure on the state governments, which have led to the passage of laws prohibiting same-sex marriages by 29 individual governments and the federal government (Barclay and Fisher 331). Currently, only a few states such as Vermont, California and Hawaii have state laws that acknowledge monogamous same-sex couples through various versions of civil unions. Varying in accordance with the laws of the individual states, these civil unions offer a wide range of protections and benefits that are received by heterosexual couples, without the social status and the portability of marital status (Demian "State Laws that Recognize Same Sex Couples"). Essentially, when couples cross state lines, their legal relationship may not be acknowledged in other stat...

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Same-Sex Marriage. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 10:11, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1687151.html