AMDG Bordeaux1 Austin Bordeaux Professor Chan December 9, 2012 History 105-02 Final Research Paper What is Love?

Gay Rights is a very emerging topic coming into todays society and many conversations. Depending on where you live in the world is how gay marriage will be viewed, especially depending on religion and moral values. Recently, the idea of same-sex marriage has been more commonly accepted. It still is a touchy subject, but humans are becoming more knowledgeable about it. It is something very abnormal to our country in the United States, and is something that will continue to be a controversial subject for many years to come. The race is truly on until same-sex marriage is legal and commonly accepted everywhere , though it will not happen overnight, it is soon to come. Americans can see what is happening in our society, that same-sex marriages are becoming more prevalent. Whether they think this is right or not, Jordan J. Paust puts it best, "The fact that human rights and human dignity precepts have been implemented and interrelated by Supreme Court decision makers, however, does not exhaust inquiry into jurisprudentially based approaches to implementation normally remain unarticulated in the

AMDG Bordeaux2 opinions of the justices who utilize human rights standards.1 Paust explains how the government shouldn't be deciding what humans are allowed to do and not do, especially when they are targeting certain groups of people such as the homosexuals. Humans are all equal and should be able to make their own decisions. The government should stay out of their business and focus on making laws that won't let society get out of hand. In the United States it is even in the Bill of Rights that all Americans have freedom to do as they please. Same-sex marriages being legal should not be based on religion or decided by government councils, but the choice must be given to the American person, because it is their freedom and their life. The rights of Homosexuals will never be accepted by everyone in the world. There are many things that contribute to this. One, it is completely against most mainstream religions morals, to get married to the same sex is wrong. Two, Chris Cuomo states "despite the fact that deeply held false beliefs are notoriously intractable and dangerous," which just goes to show that humans are very absent minded.2 When something is not socially acceptable in the world or is not the norm, humans may make their own opinions, but in these cases follow society. In this case, American society with its heavily Christian based atmosphere created misinformation about the dangers of gay marriage causing the public to go against it. The view of Homosexual's is changing; plain and simple. It is not an idea that will change overnight, but will be slowly accepted overtime. Also a very big part to this is that therapists have to adopt the ideas of Gays and Lesbians because they are trying to help, but
1

Jordan J. Paust, "Human dignity as a Constitutional Right: A Jurispridentially Based Inquiry into Criteria and Content",(1984)27 howard Law Journal 145, p 212.
2

AMDG Bordeaux3 absolutely cannot go with societys views. It says in the New York Times in 1971 that Homosexuality was and sometimes still is viewed as an "illness," which is very interesting.3 Many professors have proved that Homosexual people have nothing wrong or different with themselves than heterosexuals, yet humans today still believe that there is something wrong with them. This concept of the same sex being attracted to each other is very strange and abnormal to our society. It is not accepted and has been looked down on all of mankind history. In Toronto they have a gay pride parade, which would never happen in many places in the United States because of the negative opinions of Americans. The biggest reason many topics in our society have not become a part of the American culture is because of religion. There are many issues where the Church and state have always overlapped. This is something very interesting about the United States because we separate church and state and make a big point to do this. Throughout history though, humans have made a point to keep the same-sex from liking each other in cultures because it was not socially acceptable. In these cases the Gay or Lesbian would probably have died because in the old times things were simpler and the penalty for having this disease would be death. About 78.4% of the United States is considered to follow the Catholic religion.4 With this many following and believing in the teachings of the church, which makes for a very big influence on a topic like same-sex marriage. Catholics believe that marriage is a sacramental event that takes place between a man and a woman. This is not the case for a same sex-marriage because it is
3

"The Changing View of Homosexuality." New York Times (1923-Current File), Feb 28, 1971. http://search.proquest.com/docview/119150786?accountid=14902, (Date Accessed 9/14)
4

"Statistics on Religion in America Report -- Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life." Religion in American Culture -Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. http://religions.pewforum.org/reports (accessed December 10, 2012).

AMDG Bordeaux4 between two men or two women. There is one main point though that causes same-sex marriage to not emerge into our society because of religion, Catholics also believe that in the sacrament of marriage the couple must being getting married in the mindset that they will be procreation. This is impossible with same-sex marriages and a big part of why it has never been socially acceptable because same-sex marriages you cannot have kids which would defeat the purpose of getting married. Unfortunately, it is like this in America because of the mass population of Catholics in the country, it is one of the few things where Church and State do colloid without any intentions or on purpose. With religion in the consideration of same-sex marriage there are many reasons that society feels uncomfortable when it comes to this particular subject. It is something that has not been talked about in the history of the world ever, but now is slowly arising and becoming a relevant topic. Even 30 years ago one could make a gay slur and no one would think anything of it. Americans that are pro same-sex marriage need to realize that this is not something that every human in America will just accept. It is a very new thing to many people and many do not know how to respond. Most gay and lesbian people have been hiding their whole lives because they fear rejection. Which is not their fault or any person in the United States, it is truly because no one has dealt with it. America is still trying to figure out what exactly they are going to do about this topic, but it is a fact that it is going to take a long time. This is very much like what happened with the abolition of slavery; people did not know how to respond to this new concept that black people were free and were equal to all whites. When Americans will see that same-sex marriage is not the end of the world, that its going to take longer than many want it to.

AMDG Bordeaux5 Homosexuals are continuing the push to gain their rights from the government every day. They are trying even harder to gain acceptance from the rest of the world. There are many cases we see of the American people trying to hide their sexual preferences, it goes beyond to our government. "In these opening years of the 21st century in the United States, perhaps no topic is more decisive than homosexuality, particularly when it is coupled with the deeply rooted concept of civil rights. Controversy over ex-presidents' sexuality..."5 This goes to show that it is a topic we must vote on as a whole society and not let the government or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR) decide what is right and what is wrong.6 Which is what is slowly happening in our country, people are realizing the world wont go up in flames if the same-sex marriage is legalized. Many states now have passed the legalization of same-sex marriage, such as Washington State. These gay parades that took place in Canada are taking place within these states and are becoming slowly accepted. Americans views are changing one at a time and you can see what is happening to that the United States is adjusting. The people are not afraid of losing their traditions and ways of living. Same-sex marriage is something each individual in the United States should have a say in. It should not be decided by a group of people or a religion. This topic will eventually be something that every American will be accustomed to. Church will be parted from
5

Eaklor, Vicki Lynn. Queer America: a GLBT history of the 20th century. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2008,

p 1.
6

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), GA Res 217(III), UN GAOR, 3rd Sess Supp No 13, UN Doc

A/810(1948)[UDHR].

AMDG Bordeaux6 State, the United States will have it passed as a law, and all Americans will see this as a normal thing as many other countrys do.

AMDG Bordeaux7 Bibliography "The Changing View of Homosexuality." New York Times (1923-Current File), Feb 28, 1971. http://search.proquest.com/docview/119150786?accountid=14902, (Date Accessed 9/14) Eaklor, Vicki Lynn. Queer America: a GLBT history of the 20th century. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2008. Jordan J. Paust, "Human dignity as a Constitutional Right: A Jurispridentially Based Inquiry into Criteria and Content",(1984)27 howard Law Journal Cuomo, Chris. "Dignity and the Right to Be Lesbian or Gay." Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition 132, no. 1 (2007): 75-85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25471846?&Search=yes&searchText=Gay&searchText=Marriage&l ist=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DGay%2BMarriage%26f0%3Dall %26c1%3DAND%26q1%3D%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26 ar%3Don%26sd%3D200 (accessed October 3, 2012). "Statistics on Religion in America Report -- Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life." Religion in American Culture -- Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. http://religions.pewforum.org/reports (accessed December 10, 2012).