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| Today should be the day for affirming same-sex marriage | Today should be the day for affirming same-sex marriage |
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| Today, the US supreme court should affirm marriage equality and put America back at the forefront of free and just nations. Before it are two concurrent cases: Prop 8, California's ban on gay marriage, and the Defense of Marriage Act (Doma), the 1996 federal law that forbids the recognition of same-sex marriages at the national level. | |
| Critics of same-sex marriage have had their straw arguments debunked repeatedly. They tried to assert that allowing homosexuals to marry would somehow ruin marriages. In fact, states that acted early to allow marriage equality actually have lower divorce rates. Lately, American conservative groups – and the lawyers trying to defend Prop 8 before the supreme court – have taken to asserting that gay and lesbian couples can't procreate and therefore aren't good parents. In reality, a large-scale study from the University of Melbourne published earlier this month finds that children in same-sex couple households are doing as well as, if not better than their straight-parented peers on a range of indicators, from health to family cohesion. | |
| Regardless of how the supreme court justices rule, it is only a matter of time before this issue is rightly laid to rest both in law and in the court of public opinion. Americans now support gay marriage by 51% to 42%, according to the latest Pew Research poll, and that margin is only going in one direction. This represents an unprecedented shift from the situation only a decade ago, when a majority of Americans held homosexuality a sin, let alone the idea of gay unions. Even more encouraging is that those under 30 overwhelmingly back marriage equality, including many young Republicans. That is another reminder that institutional and legal reform is inevitable. Already in California, for example, gay couples are allowed to adopt children. | Regardless of how the supreme court justices rule, it is only a matter of time before this issue is rightly laid to rest both in law and in the court of public opinion. Americans now support gay marriage by 51% to 42%, according to the latest Pew Research poll, and that margin is only going in one direction. This represents an unprecedented shift from the situation only a decade ago, when a majority of Americans held homosexuality a sin, let alone the idea of gay unions. Even more encouraging is that those under 30 overwhelmingly back marriage equality, including many young Republicans. That is another reminder that institutional and legal reform is inevitable. Already in California, for example, gay couples are allowed to adopt children. |
| Part of the change comes from many brave gay, lesbian and transsexuals coming out to their families and communities. The first sitting Republican senator to vocally support same-sex marriage, Rob Portman of Ohio, did so in March – largely because of his gay son. The same is true of many evangelical Christian, Mormon, Muslim and Jewish families, among other faith traditions, which have had to rethink positions because of loved ones who spoke out. | Part of the change comes from many brave gay, lesbian and transsexuals coming out to their families and communities. The first sitting Republican senator to vocally support same-sex marriage, Rob Portman of Ohio, did so in March – largely because of his gay son. The same is true of many evangelical Christian, Mormon, Muslim and Jewish families, among other faith traditions, which have had to rethink positions because of loved ones who spoke out. |
| Countless politicians and commentators have called this the civil rights issue of our time. How can two adults who love each other and want to commit to each other be denied the right to marry in the land of the free? Or better said, how can the federal government use Doma as legal cover to pretend that a marriage recognised by a US state doesn't exist? | Countless politicians and commentators have called this the civil rights issue of our time. How can two adults who love each other and want to commit to each other be denied the right to marry in the land of the free? Or better said, how can the federal government use Doma as legal cover to pretend that a marriage recognised by a US state doesn't exist? |
| For better or worse, many benefits in America are tied to marriage – everything from tax breaks to hospital visitation rights, and from inheritance laws to immigration status, is biased toward couples that are formally married. The whole challenge to Doma is based on the manifest unfairness imposed on an 83-year-old New York woman who was forced to pay $363,000 in estate taxes after her wife died because the federal government refused to recognize her marriage. Those taxes would not have applied had she been married to a man. | For better or worse, many benefits in America are tied to marriage – everything from tax breaks to hospital visitation rights, and from inheritance laws to immigration status, is biased toward couples that are formally married. The whole challenge to Doma is based on the manifest unfairness imposed on an 83-year-old New York woman who was forced to pay $363,000 in estate taxes after her wife died because the federal government refused to recognize her marriage. Those taxes would not have applied had she been married to a man. |
| The US sees itself on the global stage as a beacon of freedom and human rights, yet on this issue, it lags behind. France, Canada, Spain, even Uruguay have marriage equality. If the justices have any regard for American public opinion (in addition to the human rights), they will rule on the side of justice by legalizing same-sex marriage across the country. | The US sees itself on the global stage as a beacon of freedom and human rights, yet on this issue, it lags behind. France, Canada, Spain, even Uruguay have marriage equality. If the justices have any regard for American public opinion (in addition to the human rights), they will rule on the side of justice by legalizing same-sex marriage across the country. |
| But if the court acts half-heartedly, rest assured that it is only a temporary victory for those who would deny their fellow citizens a chance to have their love and commitment validated legally. Americans, gay and straight, are increasingly for marriage equality. Their voice will be heard – and their votes will count. | But if the court acts half-heartedly, rest assured that it is only a temporary victory for those who would deny their fellow citizens a chance to have their love and commitment validated legally. Americans, gay and straight, are increasingly for marriage equality. Their voice will be heard – and their votes will count. |