Same-sex marriage , also referred to as gay marriage , is a marriage between two persons of the same sex. Currently the federal government of the United States does not recognize same-sex marriage, under the Defense of Marriage Act, but same-sex marriage is currently legal in two states, Massachusetts and Connecticut,. The issue is a divisive political issue in the United States and elsewhere. The social movement to obtain the rights and responsibilities of marriages in the United States for same-sex couples began in the early 1970s, and the issue became a prominent one in U.S. politics in the 1990s.

Legal issues

Federal law

The legal issues surrounding same-sex marriage in the United States are complicated by the nation's federal system of government. Traditionally, the federal government did not attempt to establish its own definition of marriage; any marriage recognized by a state was recognized by the federal government, even if that marriage was not recognized by one or more other states (as was the case with interracial marriage before 1967 due to anti-miscegenation laws). With the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, however, a marriage was explicitly defined as a union of one man and one woman for the purposes of federal law. (See 1 U.S.C. § 7 .) Thus, no act or agency of the federal government currently recognizes same-sex marriage.

According to the federal government's Government Accountability Office (GAO), more than 1,138 rights and protections are conferred to U.S. citizens upon marriage by the federal government; areas affected include Social Security benefits, veterans' benefits, health insurance, Medicaid, hospital visitation, estate taxes, retirement savings, pensions, family leave, and immigration law.

However, many aspects of marriage law affecting the day to day lives of inhabitants of the United States are determined by the states, not the federal government, and the Defense of Marriage Act does not prevent individual states from defining marriage as they see fit; indeed, most legal scholars believe that the federal government cannot impose a definition of marriage onto the laws of the various states by statute.

State law

Same-sex marriages have been recognized in Massachusetts since November 18, 2003, and in Connecticut since October 10, 2008. Same-sex marriage only has effect at the state level as the U.S. federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages as marriages under federal law, in accordance with the Defense of Marriage Act.

Vermont, New Jersey, and New Hampshire have created legal unions that, while not called marriages, are explicitly defined as offering all the rights and responsibilities of marriage under state (though not federal) law to same-sex couples. Maine, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Washington have created legal unions for same-sex couples that offer varying subsets of the rights and responsibilities of marriage under the laws of those jurisdictions.

On May 15, 2008 the Supreme Court of California ruled that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional, effectively creating same-sex marriage in California. Citing the 1948 California Supreme Court decision Perez v. Sharp , which reversed the interracial marriage ban, In re Marriage Cases struck down California's 1977 one-man, one-woman marriage law and a similar voter-approved 2000 law (which had passed 61%-39%) in a 4-3 ruling, written by Chief Justice Ronald George). The Advocates for Faith and Freedom and the Alliance Defense Fund, among other things, asked for a stay of the ruling, but the court denied the requests on June 4, 2008. In addition, the court clarified that its initial ruling was to take effect at 5:00 p.m. on June 16, 2008.

The court ruling in California gave rise to considerable opposition locally and nationally. Same-sex marriage opponents placed a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to define marriage as between a man and woman; Florida and Arizona also placed constitutional bans on same-sex marriage on the November 2008 ballot, all of which passed, though the California amendment is being challenged.

Some states that legally recognize same-sex relationships also recognize similar relationships contracted in other states, though those relationships are not recognized in states without such legal recognition.

In contrast, thirty states have constitutional amendments explicitly barring the recognition of same-sex marriage, confining civil marriage to a legal union between a man and a woman. Forty-three states have statutes restricting marriage to two persons of the opposite sex, including some of those that have created legal recognition for same-sex unions under a name other than "marriage." A small number of states ban any legal recognition of same-sex unions that would be equivalent to civil marriage.

Opponents of same-sex marriage have attempted to prevent individual states from recognizing such unions by amending the United States Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. In 2006, the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriages, was approved by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee, on a party line vote, and was debated by the full United States Senate, but was ultimately defeated in both houses of Congress.

On August 30, 2007, Iowa Judge Robert Hanson temporarily annulled a law allowing marriage only between men and women before placing a stay the following day on his own ruling. Currently, same-sex couples are suing for the right to marry in Iowa.

On October 10, 2008, the Supreme Court of Connecticut ruled that civil unions were discriminatory and the state must allow same-sex marriage under the equal protection clause of its constitution.

Detailed summary : see Template:Same-sex legal relationships in USA

Impact of foreign laws

The nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada has raised questions about US law, due to Canada's proximity to the US and the fact that Canada has no citizenship or residency requirement to receive a marriage certificate (unlike the Netherlands and Belgium). Canada and the U.S. have a history of respecting marriages contracted in either country.

Immediately after the June 2003 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in Ontario, a number of American couples headed or planned to head to the province in order to get married. A coalition of American national gay rights groups issued a statement asking couples to contact them before attempting legal challenges, so that they might be coordinated as part of the same-sex marriage movement in the United States.

At present, same-sex marriages are recognized nationwide in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, and Norway (from January 1, 2009). Same-sex marriage conducted abroad is recognized in Israel, France, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles and the states of New Mexico, New York and Rhode Island.

Debate

Opposition

See Traditional marriage movement

Opposition to same sex marriage in the United States is associated by some with the religious right, though it is by no means limited to this group; social conservatives, the Roman Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many Muslims, and the Orthodox branch of Judaism also support the "traditional", opposite-sex definition of marriage. Prominent Evangelical Christian opponents of same-sex marriage have included Pat Robertson, Fred Phelps, James Dobson and Jerry Falwell. Organizations that support a "traditional" definition of marriage include the Alliance Defense Fund, Alliance for Marriage, American Family Association, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, National Organization for Marriage, Orthodox Church in America, Rabbinical Council of America, and the national Republican Party.

Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that same-sex relationships are not marriages, that same-sex marriage is contrary to the best interests of children because it deprives children of either a mother or a father, that legalization of same-sex marriage will open the door for the legalization of polygamy, or marriages between humans and non-human animals, such as goats, and that legalization of same-sex marriage would erode religious freedoms. Other opponents of same-sex marriage hold that same-sex marriage is contrary to God's will, that it is unnatural, that it encourages unhealthy behavior, and that it harms the family structure of society. Still others argue that same-sex marriage would encourage individuals to act upon homosexual urges, when such individuals ought to instead seek help to overcome the temptation toward homosexual behavior.

A writer of The Weekly Standard , Stanley Kurtz, adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, blames same-sex marriage in the Netherlands for an increase in parental cohabitation contracts. He asserts in that same-sex marriage has detached procreation from marriage in the Dutch mind and would likely do the same in the United States.

...the American media are correct to report that the majority of Dutch citizens have accepted the i