gay marriage

It has been legislated on a federal Level. In 1996 President Bill Clinton signed into law the Defense Of Marriage Act. It GAVE states the right NOT to recognize same sex marriages from other states. Those of us in the "marriage Equality movement believe it is unconsitutional. The constitutional issues most relevant to DOMA are the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, which is concerned with the definition section of DOMA and the Full Faith and Credit Clause, which is primarily concerned with the second section of DOMA. A right to marriage, overriding the provisions of state law, was found in Loving v. Virginia. The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution obligates states to give "Full Faith and Credit ... to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State." The Effects Clause (Art IV, § 1) grants Congress the authority to "prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof." Whether DOMA is an appropriate exercise of this power is disputed.
Critics of DOMA argue that the law is unconstitutional on several grounds including:

• Congress over-reached its authority under the Full Faith and Credit Clause
• the law illegally discriminates and violates the Equal Protection Clause
• the law violates the fundamental right to marriage (including same-sex marriage) under the due process clause

Several challenges to the law's constitutionality have been presented to the United States Supreme Court since its enactment, but so far the Court has declined to review any such cases. Many states have still not decided whether to recognize other states' same-sex marriages or not, which is unsurprising as only Massachusetts has yet issued licenses for same-sex marriages as of 2006. Test cases are currently working their way thru the federal courts en route to the Supreme Court.

^the problem is many of the people running those courts are involved in faiths and ideas that view homosexuality as immoral. it's like a woman asking a chovanist for permission to wear pants.

Great summary. I suspect that the Supreme Court has denied review so far because they know they are going to have a hard time arguing against gay marriage on a federal level. If California cements gay marriage (following the November ballot initiative) then this issue is only going to become more heated. Equality for gays is the civil rights issue of our time. I look forward to the day when people stop trying to deny specific groups equal rights.

Anyone care to educate me further too, then?

If my father is allowed to get married four times, surely I can get married once?

I'm all for it. I'm tired of the religious whackos making all the laws.

I'm not even 1% gay but I don't feel my marriage is threatened by allowing same-sex individuals to enjoy the benefits of legal wedlock.

The biggest threat to marriage is divorce anyway, not homosexuality. And the biggest threat to our society right now are radical preachers demonizing anyone with different thinking.

that's what bothers me the most. people who say homosexuality desicrates marriage. uhh, have you seen the divorce rates?? do you have any idea how straight marriages have led to unhappy kids, embittered wives and husbands, thousands of dollars spent on court costs, litigation and therapy cuz of mom's infidelity or dad's gambling problem. if homosexuality desicrates marriage, then straight people eat it, shit it out, step on it, set it on fire, put it in a nasty dirty rusty container and throws it into a pile of toxic goo.

Im gay and let me say this, when we were able to be married i thought, no way do i want to be like the str8's, but then i met someone, and i would defineatley put a ring on this man's finger and marry him, only problem is, he is fresh to the gay screen, (a confused bi, but when drinking, the real him comes out), so now i guess its a matter of waiting to see what happens, (its only been 3 yrs now)! Guess im wasting my time waiting.

If you don't like gay marriage don't get one and shut the fuck up.

Actually, no, they aren't. That violates both the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the US Constitution, and the 14th Amendment. Traffic law is a bit different from marriage law, marleyis. And even at that, a state law that permitted men to drive, but not women, would be struck down in a heartbeat.

get used to it. religion has MILLIONS of misguided fools misinterprating it's principles and applying its laws only to other people. i'll bet the barn that there are hundreds of christians who would support gay marriage if they found out one of their loved ones was gay.

Well, I've known plenty of misguided souls who disowned/shunned gay "loved" ones.

The biggest problem with those fundamentalist types (not just christians, but all fundamentalists) is that they are incapable of independent thought. They have to be told what to think, and the ones doing the telling are a bit less than honest and ethical. They use scare tactics to brainwash the weak of mind & will, in order to keep them "faithful" - and in line - and giving the dollars.

How many people see each broadcast of The Believers' Voice of Victory, (or PTL or 700 Club or ... ... ... ... [name your favorite televangelist])? Now, I won't even ask how many watch a gay religious activists' show; I don't know of any.

So, Jimmy Swaggart tells his hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of viewers to send him money (god says so!) and vote against them queers. They do as they are told. And he's just one of thousands of preachers doing just that.

Who is being motivated, en masse, to vote for equal rights for gay Americans?

^we're in agreement. actually i was trying to address the hypocrisy. sure many debate against gay marriage, but how much you wanna bet that, with all their self-righteousness, they'd sing a different song if their daughter was having trouble getting healthcare because she's married to a woman? they denounce gay marriage cuz a book tells em to, but as soon as it applies to them, as usual, they sing a different song.

what turned me off of religion is that few people actually understand and adhere to it, and it seems that 9 out 10 people i've seen that are religious just wanna feel better about the bad shit they do throughout the week, and want a place to congregate and be praised for the "good deeds" they do.

or, closer to the truth, they want someone to tell them that the bad shit they do throughout the week is actually "god's work."

Exactly.

I remember when I was at high school, the class was asked to raise their hand if their parents were divorced. Half the hands in the room went up. So much for the "sanctity of marriage".