...Recognition of gay and lesbian marriage and pluralism Word Count: 2024 What does pluralism reveal about the recognition of gay and lesbian marriage? What are the strengths and limitations of this theory in understanding the recognition of gay and lesbian marriage? Power overlaps between interest and political groups and as a result, political decision-making is reached through negotiation and compromise (Manley 1983). Indeed, when examining the progressive debate concerning the legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Australia, the perception that power is bartered through interest groups becomes highly plausible through the lens of classical pluralist theory. There are competing visions of diversity in Australia, and behind the main positions; supportive, neutral, and opposing, there are a multitude of perspectives underlying these umbrella groupings. For some in the community, the concept of gay and lesbian marriage is controversial, and its complexities raise fundamental social, religious, moral and political questions. In analyzing how power has operated in this situation, I will apply classical pluralism to converse sides of the moral argument to reveal how Australian attitudes have changed over time in a progressively consensual political environment. For this issue, the strengths of pluralism lie in its empirical nature; it is an observable and comprehensive view of understanding how power operates in society, with regard to a multitude of perspectives and...
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...Struggle for Equality in Marriage of Gay and Lesbian Couples William Rigney COM156 4-14-2013 Meg Mikovitis Gay marriage, those two words have the power to stir up controversy, feelings and discussion like no others. Those two words have driven a wedge between the people of the United States, a wedge of tolerance and intolerance. There does not seem to be any middle ground with this debate, one is either in support of this issue of gay marriage, or one is opposed to it. Whatever your feelings are regarding this issue, there is no denying that gay marriage will be an issue for debate for a very long time. While religion may say it is wrong many people believe gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights as straight couples and do not deserve to be treated differently. Webster’s dictionary defines marriage as n., (1) the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual or contractual relationship recognized by law,(2) the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage <same-sex marriage>. This change in definition was made in 2003. Marriage should be about getting married to that special someone that you love, it is not just a piece of paper that ties us together. It also involves legal, economic and social aspects as well. Civil unions and domestic partnerships are discussed every day in society, but neither is the same as a “legal” marriage, and are not afforded the...
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...equal rights. Gay and lesbians are consistently denied rights that are typically taken for granted by the average American. Specifically, gay and lesbian couples are denied the right to marry even if they are upstanding citizens and are held at an unfair disadvantage solely because of their sexual orientation. This discrimination must stop because gay and lesbian couples are law-abiding citizens as well, who should be afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples. If same-sex couples are paying taxes to build roads and help public schools like the heterosexual couples, they should be afforded the same rights. One common problem that plagues gay and lesbian couples that are denied the right to marry is their inability to claim their partner’s social security after he or she has died. Currently, there are no programs that give homosexuals survivor benefits like the ones that are provided for heterosexuals who are married or divorced. Gay and lesbian partners are not able to claim benefits of their deceased, regardless of the fact that all working citizens, heterosexual or homosexual, pay into the Social Security system for survivor benefits. Sadly, this leaves many gay and lesbian couples with an unstable retirement. The most disturbing fact is that homosexuals cannot claim survivor benefits, even though homosexuals and heterosexuals both pay the government for survivor benefits. Even people who are divorced can claim survivor benefits, whereas a lifelong gay/lesbian partner cannot...
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...Running head: SAME-SEX MARRIAGE The Opinion of Younger Generation about Same-Sex Marriage 1400I022 Christina, student 1400I033 Elsa, student 1400I038 Ashley, student National Taichung University of Science and Technology Department of Applied English Instructor: Professor Cary Stacy Smith, PhD Allocation of work Name / Number | Allocation of work | Christina / 1400I022 | 1. Introduction 2. Literature review 3. Reference | Elsa / 1400I033 | 1. Results and Discussion 2. Conclusions 3. Appendix | Ashley / 1400I038 | 1. Cover page 2. Abstract 3. Method 4. Paper organization and Final editing | Abstract In the past decades, same-sex marriage is not generally acceptable to most people. People are more conservative about the issue. However, recently people have become more open-minded. Therefore, in the study, the authors want to know the change about younger generation’s opinion toward same-sex marriage. The authors want to know whether the younger generation is more acceptable about same-sex marriage. The authors focus only college students in the study. Thus, to find out the attitude of younger generation, the authors have designed a series of study. The authors expected to interview 15 college students with 30 designed open-ended questions about same-sex marriage. The question can be divided into three parts which are “How would people react if others are gay”, “How would people react if he/she is gay” and “What people's...
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...all citizens are afforded equal rights. Gay and lesbians are consistently denied rights that are typically taken for granted by the average American. Specifically, gay and lesbians couples are denied the right to marry even if they are upstanding citizens. They are held at an unfair disadvantage solely because of their sexual orientation. This discrimination must stop because gay and lesbian couples are law-abiding citizens too, who should be afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples. One common problem that plagues gay and lesbian couples that are denied the right to marry is their inability to claim their partner’s social security after he or she has died. The Human Rights Campaign, which work to achieve equal rights for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people, is supporting the effort to attain survivor benefits for domesticate partners. They believe, “Any alteration to the Social Security system must include partners of gays and lesbians in its definition of survivor”(Survivor Benefits 1). Currently, there are no programs that give homosexuals survivor benefits like the ones that are provided for heterosexuals who are married or divorced. Gay and lesbian partners are not able to claim benefits of their deceased, regardless of the fact that all working citizens heterosexual or homosexual pay into the Social Security system for survivor benefits (Survivor Benefits 1). Sadly, this leaves many gay and lesbian couples with an unstable retirement. The most...
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...Same-Sex Marriage and Its Affect on Society April 9, 2011 Same-Sex Marriage and Its Affect on Society Gay marriage is a highly controversial topic that has caused violence, tears, confusion, debate, and unhappiness, and action towards the gay equality movement. The United States stresses how everyone is equal and everyone has the same rights, but if that were true, why are gays and lesbians not allowed to get married. In the recent years, the concept of same-sex marriage has become quite the controversial issue. Many lawsuits, law amendments, and debates of occurred because of this issue. It has not only caused pain to those who are affected by these laws, but it has caused hatred for both those who are affected and those who believe that same-sex marriage should not happen. There are many benefits to same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriage decreases the risk of sexually transmitted diseases amongst the gay community, increases adoptions, and is all about love; therefore same-sex marriages should be legalized. Gays and lesbians have been fighting hard for equality for many years now. Before the fight for same-sex marriage came about, discrimination against homosexuals was the current war that is still in process. In its earlier years, being gay was unacceptable. People had to hide who they truly were in order to avoid being beaten or bullied. During and after the wild 1960s, a lot of people were sleeping with multiple partners and even groups. This led to gays and lesbians becoming...
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...Gay Marriages Priscilla Reyes Sociology 120: Introduction to Ethics & Sociology Kathleen Miller March 10, 2013 Gay marriages, I don’t believe in gay marriages only in marriages between a man and woman. I know that a lot of gays or lesbians are trying to get the Supreme Court to approve same sex marriage. In California, the Supreme Court is trying to get same sex marriages ban nationwide. The gay and lesbian are using the law to have the same sex marriages pass and there have been about 3 states like Maine, Maryland, and Washington that have passed the same sex marriage. In other states like Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and New Jersey are against the same sex marriage. I don’t think that it should change what marriage is referring to between two men or two women; it is based on a man and woman marrying in holy matrimony. This is stated in the Bible and thru the standard government law and constitution. The government shouldn’t change the law of the constitution or the bill of rights because of same sex marriages. The gays and lesbians want the same rights as a man and a woman do when they get married, for instance if the significant other happens to pass away the significant other would inherited what their significant other left behind. It is not the same when a man inherited his wife life insurance policy or the wife inherits her husband’s life insurance. Marriage should only be between a man and a woman not two men or two women getting...
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...civil right does not extend to lesbian and gay couples. Some lesbians and gays exchange vows and rings to symbolize their commitment to one another and to publicly challenge the heterosexual exclusivity of marriage. Others call for an outright ban on heterosexual marriage until same-sex marriage is recognized as a legal right. These actions and attitudes have contributed to a growing public debate on whether or not lesbians and gays should have the legal right to marry. Although people are generally divided on the issue of lesbian and gay marriage, the arguments supporting their viewpoint vary. There are a few aspects to be looked at. Sociology It depends on how the society accepts it, because it’s based on the culture and the human individual’s viewpoint. Each society has its own set of values and norms. From a sociological view, homosexual behavior poses a risk, if it’s officially recognized in same-sex marriage (SSM), because of the negative impact it will have on society. Theology Same sex marriage is very unacceptable because it is not in the teachings of their respective religions. For example in the viewpoint of a Christian, there is no such thing as same sex marriage because it’s very disgraceful to God, because God only created man and woman. And based on many religions, they believe that the sole reason of marriage is to mate and reproduce. Psychology The impact of stigma. Laws that exclude lesbian, gay and bisexual people from marriage causes stress, and that stress...
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...Most countries in the world have very different love and marriage laws. These laws are often adjusted over time to match change in social values. Transformative trend of the past one hundred years has led to large changes in attitudes to love and marriage between contemporary society and earlier times. Marriage can be defined as a vow between two people to remain together as a couple. It has a civil form and a religious form. There is a great diversity of types of love and marriage, and social attitudes to some of them have changed greatly. In particular, attitudes towards cohabitation, gay and lesbian marriage and sole parenting were more accepted in the world. A cohabitation relationship can be defined as living together of two people as partners but without a marriage certificate. Gay and lesbian refers to marriage between people of the same gender. Sole parenting concerns a parent who is raising their children without a spouse. One area of serious alteration is in attitudes towards cohabitation which has become more acceptable. In the past, cohabitation was considered to be shameful. However, today there are many people who live together as a couple without marriage. This is more popular in modern life than ever before. In Viet Nam for example, cohabitation is a new phenomenon in society over the last few years and has become a widely spreading trend. Viet Nam society used to base on Confucian values. Most children in the family were expected to live formally. Losing...
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...Same-Sex Marriage Some people believe marriage means the combination of the two opposite-sexes or a union between a male and female. Other say that marriage is the permanent relationship between two people regardless of their sex. Most member of churches and religions are against same sex marriages and they said that gay and lesbian marriages are not acceptable in our society. However, same sex marriages should be legalized in the United States because gay marriage is request for equality and will not harm opposite sex marriage or children of same sex marriages. Marriage equality has been approved for same-sex couples in many states of the United States. “By Court Decision, State Legislative, and popular Vote, 16 states have legal same sex marriage and 33 states ban same-sex marriage in America,” says Revel & Riot, marking a new point for same sex marriage down the Defense of Marriage Act while upholding marriage equality in California. As a result, same-sex marriages were approved in California on June 28, 2013. Now gays and lesbians are free to fall in love and get married to whoever they want. In addition, marriage equality brought same sex couples quite a lot of benefits such as “hospital visitation, child custody, adoption, parenting rights, medical decision-making power, and automatic inheritance, divorce protections, spousal and child support, access to family insurance policies”…etc. (Revel & Riot). However, people of 33 states disagree with marriage equality...
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...Bibliography Gay & Lesbian Rights. Legal news and articles for August 29 - 31, 2012. (2012). Retrieved from http://news.legalhelpmate.com/family-law/gay-lesbian-rights/2012/august This is an excellent easy to use legal website for referencing articles concerning gay and lesbian rights globally. Articles can be found through date requests, allowing research time to be shorten dramatically. Archived information dates back through January 2011, making this site useful when researching relevant current issues affecting gay and lesbian society. NCLR: National Center for Lesbian Rights. (1999-2011). NCLR: The Audacity to fight for justice . The preserverence to win. Retrieved from http://www.nclrights.org/site/PageServer This website National Center For Lesbian Rights, is designed to provide information regarding the fight against gay marriage rights. It provides insight on a bill passed to help women of same sex relationships to be able to receive fertility services just as a woman in a different sex relationship would. It has articles that speak about the wellbeing of children that grow up in a same sex marriage or relationship, compared back 20 to 40 years ago. It explains how it affects children or how they are as adults, and how their upbringing reflects on how they raise their children. Wikipedia. (2012). Same-Sex Marriage . Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_marriage This website provides information on gay marriage...
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...2014 Two Moms or Two Dads Should gays and lesbians be granted the right to adopt a child? Today's view of gays and lesbians is drastically different than it was in the past. As more people "come out of the closet" gays and lesbians are becoming more socially accepted. They currently are battling for equality in a variety of areas. The most common areas are choosing to adopt a child and the impact that might have on themselves as well as the child and equal marriage. There are three main ways that gays and lesbians are raising children and acquiring families without the courts becoming involved. The first way, which is also the most common way, is when heterosexual marriages dissolve after one parent apparently "comes out." With this situation, as long as there isn't a messy custody battle in court most often the child is raised by the gay or lesbian parent, and is also fully aware of his or her parent's sexual tendencies. The second method is lesbians receiving artificial insemination. Estimates of the number of children born to lesbians through artificial insemination range in the tens of thousands. Lastly, there is one of the newer methods: gays and lesbians going into an agreement with each other to produce a child. In some cases they share duties and custody in raising the child. In other cases the men or women avoid any attachment with the child at all (Bernard, T. S.). Lesbian and gay parents go throughout the daily routines of life no differently...
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...Same Sex Marriages Michelle Jones University of Phoenix ENG/215 Cassandra Baker June 5, 2012 Same Sex Marriages Is it okay for the government to make same sex marriages illegal because of their own preference? People of all kind want to get marry someday. To tell couples they cannot get marry because of their sex preference is not fair. Everyone should be allowed to get marry if that is what wants to do. Whether it two men or two women it should not matter. They should have the same opportunity a man and woman have to get marry. “Once society was widely conscious of this population, and had an inkling of its extent, there was no question of reverting to the status quo ante. The knowledge itself had changed the political question. Not only were homosexuals not going back into the closet, but the rest of society could not forget that they exist. And there had been little in the way of a "traditional" approach to something that was beyond the margin of public consciousness. So now, the question arose of how to think about—and act toward—this alarming new population. Should it be included in or excluded from the body politic, and on what terms?”( McCarthy, 2012). Same sex people just want to be trust like everyone else. They want same benefits that other couples get. People have to expect their same sex marriages but it should be reason not to allow them to get marry. It is against the law for them to be against what is right. It is against everything...
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...Equality in Same Sex Marriages Should same-sex-marriage be legalized? Evidently, we as a nation are hesitant on this issue. Many people are against same sex marriage because of numerous reasons such as, religious beliefs or because they believe same sex couples could not raise a proper family. Although there are countless individuals against this issue gays, lesbians, and bisexuals (LGB) are fighting for equal rights everyday and will not give up until they get treated the same as any other individual. As time progresses people are becoming more comfortable with gays and lesbians as couples, but to most, marriage signifies the union between a man and a woman as husband and wife. To them they see it no other way. One should see any and every person as a human being; although they have different sexual preferences, they are still human and deserve the same rights as any other person. The right to be human should not be taken away from someone over which gender they fall in love with. Same sex marriage should be allowed and accepted across the nation because the desire to love is a human need; therefore, it is a human right. With this said, any human being has the right to equality amongst their society, they should not be discriminated against, or have someone with an upper hand try to change the constitutional meaning of rights for gay people under the Constitution of the United States. We begin with the rights to equality among homosexuals and the society. When...
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...not all citizens are afforded equal rights. Gay and lesbians are consistently denied rights that are typically taken for granted by the average American. Specifically, gay and lesbians couples are denied the right to marry even if they are upstanding citizens. They are held at an unfair disadvantage solely because of their sexual orientation. This discrimination must stop because gay and lesbian couples are law-abiding citizens too, who should be afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples. One common problem that plagues gay and lesbian couples that are denied the right to marry is their inability to claim their partner’s social security after he or she has died. The Human Rights Campaign, which work to achieve equal rights for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people, is supporting the effort to attain survivor benefits for domesticate partners. They believe, “Any alteration to the Social Security system must include partners of gays and lesbians in its definition of survivor”(Survivor Benefits 1). Currently, there are no programs that give homosexuals survivor benefits like the ones that are provided for heterosexuals who are married or divorced. Gay and lesbian partners are not able to claim benefits of their deceased, regardless of the fact that all working citizens heterosexual or homosexual pay into the Social Security system for survivor benefits (Survivor Benefits 1). Sadly, this leaves many gay and lesbian couples with an unstable retirement. The most...
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