| Isaac Ray Higgins
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05-18-2002 11:18 PM ET (US)
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This is pretty much my quiz answer to number 6... I think
The struggle for gays and lesbians to gain custody from previous heterosexual relationships began nearly fifty years ago. However, same-sex relationships have historical evidence that documents the practice of sanctioned and/or socially visible unions in the West (Stacey 374). Even with its historical presence, he notion of gay and lesbian families is still a late twentieth-century development and nearly impossible until recent developments in reproductive technology (375). Now that there is an increase in the number of gay and lesbian relationships who want families there is an increase of need to provide for their pursuit of happiness. While our current law system does not exactly combat their pursuit of happiness, it allows interpreters to use laws as a way to express their homophobic fears and force members of the GLBT (Gay Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transvestite) community into a form of relationship oppression. The laws, and many firms in America, provide benefits for married couples that love each other and have chosen to join in matrimony, why does it not provide those same benefits to members of the GLBT community who share the same feelings for each other? While I do not approve of GLBT relationships, I do support their struggle to be recognized by the government, and some form of that relationship should be legal.
Marriage is a Holy matrimony sanctified by God. With that, a GLBT marriage would seem contradictory to the evangelistic purpose of many religions that compose an extremely large majority of America and her governmental leaders. At the same time, the United States government is built on the separation of church and state and therefore has no right to either ban or legalize GLBT marriages. It does, however, have the right to recognize those marriages. An example of what the American government should do has already been done in 1989 when Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were the first countries to recognize a form of gay marriage, termed registered partnership (373). This recognition is important because it is an example of how our laws should change to effectively maintain a separation of church and state. If all marriages were recognized by our government as registered partnerships, the argument that marriage is reserved for a man and a woman will still be applicable, but not to our laws.
Gay and lesbian relationships should not only be legal, but there should be no question whether or not they are illegal. For every liberal activity to which America claims to adhere, there are equal as many that America frowns upon. Even though individuals who feel religiously bound to oppose these relationships dominate our government and population, there must be an ability to effectively ignore their beliefs and put their biases aside when dealing in matters of the law.
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