Paula Sanchez
Sociology 109
Dr. Gloria J Palileo
October 23, 2013
Gay marriage in the center of the debate
Until July 17, 2013, gay marriage has been legalized in 14 U.S. states (CA, CT, DE, GA,
MA, MD, ME, MN, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and
Washington) and the District of Columbia, thirty-five states have banned gay marriage through
of any of the laws or constitutional amendments or both. However, the debate on this issue is
alive in the country and the positions for and against are reflected in the proposed initiatives in
different states of the Union.
The objective of this is to show how gay marriage in the United States of America is a
current debate due to different points of view from which addresses this problem. First, I will
give a brief account of the history of the debate over gay marriage and initiatives and its
obstacles. Given the legal definition of “marriage” and same-sex marriage. To show how this
debate there are pros and cons in order to propose a personal reflection about this subject.
State laws have been involved in the public debate on how to define marriage and if the
official recognition of “marriage” should be limited to the relationship between a man and a
woman or same-sex couples should also be entitled to “marriage “. We have generated two broad
positions in this debate: first the enactment of the “defense of marriage” with the Constitution or
the adoption of laws allowing same-sex marriage.
In the United States, four states have passed civil unions for same-sex couples, ensuring
the same legal rights as heterosexual marriage. The states that have adopted the prohibition of
marriage between persons of the same sex, I have made through the adoption of “defense of
marriage” language that defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as
husband and wife. Twenty-nine states have put this category of marriage in their state
constitutions.
Nevertheless, and contrary to this, fourteen states currently allow marriage between same
sex. In Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa, the high courts of these states determined that the
state constitution requires that same-sex couples receive the same rights of marriage to opposite-
sex couples. In Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New York,
Maryland, Washington, Rhode Island and Delaware legislatures have approved legal changes
allowing marriages between persons of the same sex.
The divorce of same-sex marriage and the dissolution of civil unions remain a challenge
