Defining Homophobia The American Heritage Diction

There has been much news coverage lately of the issues of gay marriage in the United States. This coverage began first with reports about the United States Supreme Court's decision in the case of Lawrence v. Texas, where the Court held that Texas' law making sodomy illegal was unconstitutional ("Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Sodomy Law," CNN). Constitutional scholars hailed the Court's decision as a strengthening of the right to privacy in the U.S. Gay rights activists agreed with those constitutional scholars, claiming that the opinion affirmed their right to their private sexual conduct. However, not everyone was happy with the law, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

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hy and the equivalent of marital sex" (Olsen & Hertz n.p.). And Focus on the Family vice president Tom Minnery contended that "[w]ith today's decision the court continues pillaging its way through the moral norms of our country" (Olsen & Hertz n.p.). But perhaps the most telling quote comes from African-American pastor William Shields of Norcross, Georgia. Many people who support gay marriage argue that banning gay marriage today is just as wrong as banning interracial marriages was up until the 1960s. Until the Supreme Court struck down state bans on interracial marriages in the case of Loving v. Virginia, many people believed that marriage between Blacks and Whites was inherently wrong. This belief was clearly racist in that it was based on the belief that Blacks were inherently inferior to Whites and race-mixing would taint the White race. Gay marriage supporters today argue that opponents believe that homosexuals are deviant and inferior û just as people in the 1960s believed Blacks were. But Shields disagrees. Although he was involved in civil rights protests in the 1960s, he is now supporting a ban on gay marriage. Shields believes that the Bible clearly allows interracial marriage and opposes same-sex marriage: "
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1244
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)