Marriage Equality and its Opponents

As I contend in a related blog entry, I do not believe that the arguments supporting legislation against the legal recognition of homosexual marriages in the United States are consistent with the letter or the spirit of the U.S. Constitution. The pragmatic arguments against homosexual marriages are weak at best (particularly considering the dismal divorce rate in heterosexual marriages) and fail to justify current and proposed legislation on their own, leaving only the religious arguments underlying them---arguments which, of course, cannot legally be used to justify an act of Congress. Consequently, the burden of proof in the debate on the legislation lies not on the proponents to demonstrate that same-sex marriages should be acceptable but on the opponents to demonstrate, without resorting to hackneyed pseudo-religious dogma, that same-sex marriages both are economically or otherwise quantitatively detrimental to the public interest, and lead to the violation of individual rights. Unless such a basis can be offered, I offer that the current "Defense of Marriage Act", the proposed "Marriage Protection Act", and the many state-level imitations thereof are in diametric contradiction to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Legislation

Federal

• United States Code Chapter 99, Title 28: The Defense of Marriage Act
• Proposed amendment to U.S. Code Chapter 99, Title 28: The Marriage Protection Act-- This insidious little piece of legislation essentially forbids the Supreme Court to rule on the DOMA. Thankfully, it wasn't passed. If your representative is listed as one of the proponents, though (as mine is), I suggest you have a little chat with her or him.
• Final vote results for roll call 410, passage of the Marriage Protection Act of 2004

State

Unless otherwise noted, the legislation listed here prohibits the recognition of same-sex marriages.

• Alabama -- The text of Act 98-500, Section 30-1-19: The Alabama Marriage Protection Act
• Indiana -- Indiana Code 31-11-1

NPR has organized the various states' legislation into a map that depicts the methods used to prohibit (or, in the few well-known cases, allow) LGBT from entering into marriage agreements: State By State: The Legal Battle Over Gay Marriage

News Reports and Other Articles

Dated Articles

• California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban -- Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2008
• Same-sex marriage has skeptics on California Supreme Court -- Los Angeles Times, 5 March 2008
• Two Sides Testify on Same-Sex Marriage -- Washington Post, 15 February 2008
• Appeals Court Says State Must Recognize Canadian Marriage of New York Lesbian Couple -- ACLU Newsroom, 1 February 2008
• Iowa Judge Rules in Favor of Gay Marriage -- Iowa Independent, 30 August 2007
• Spain Approves Gay Marriage Bill -- BBC World News, 1 October 2004

Long-running Specials

• Boston Globe Special on the Same-Sex Marriage Debate
• CNN Election Poll on Same-sex Marriage
  

Website Postings

I have tried to restrict the postings listed here to reasonable arguments on the issue, and will not list rhetoric that is intentionally inflammatory. This is not to say that some of the postings will not evoke an emotional reaction---rather that they will not substitute such a reaction for valid arguments. Outside the bipartisan arena of politicians, classifying people as either "for" or "against" gay marriage is rather arbitrary, and so I have chosen not to do so.

• American Center for Law and Justice - Protecting Marriage -- This group was established by a popular televangelist/politician as a counter-force to the ACLU (although the two have occasionally fought on the same side)
• American Civil Liberties Union Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project -- The ACLU has been fighting for gay rights for a while now
• Catholic Answers Special Report: Gay Marriage -- They are consistent in their stance, I'll give them that
• Defending Marriage Against Whom? -- My blog entry challenging the Constitutionality of legislation banning homosexual marriages
• Gay Marriage: The Arguments and the Motives -- A reasonable account of why gay marriages should receive legal protection
• Same Sex Marriage: A Selective Bibliography -- A much more thorough resource than this page
• Wikipedia Entry on Same-Sex Marriage