On the federal level, President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA into effect in 1996, discriminating against same-sex couples in two ways. ... Second, it denies otherwise legally married same-sex couples the right to receive federal benefits and protections that heterosexual couples enjoy (Minter pp-pp). ... However, with the passage of The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996, marriage became explicitly defined in federal law as a union between one man and one woman. ... Section 3 of the Act defies the recognition of same-sex marriage for all federal purposes, incl...

• Word Count: 2402
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

INTRODUCTION The Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination of an individual on the basis of their race, sex, religion, or national origin fails to provide federal protection to individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation. ... Legal and economical privileges guaranteed to traditional heterosexual families are eliminated because of the denial of legal protection. ... The most recent and significant decision affecting same sex marriages was in 1996 when The Defense of Marriage Act was passed by both houses in the U.S. government. ... Even to this day, the federal government...

• Word Count: 2464
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In textbooks, literature, and films alike, the African American struggle to be viewed simply as "human" through the eyes of their white counterparts is portrayed through images of horrible inequality, police brutality, and violations of the United States constitution, which guarantees equal protection of all American citizens under the law. ... Similarly to the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay Rights Movement is currently striving for equal protection under the law, and fair treatment within various institutions such as the institution of marriage, or within the work place. ... Most ba...

• Word Count: 1532
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Paladino's speech came at a time when New York governor, David Paterson, was passing DASA, Dignity for All Students Act. DASA includes protections for gender identity and expression. ... The act will foster the development of rules to prevent and respond to discriminatory harassment and hate violence. ...

• Word Count: 559
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Last but not least, faith in humanity was slightly restored after the formation of ENDA (Employment non-discrimination act) in 2011 by the human rights group. Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would offer essential protections against discrimination in jobs based on gender identity or sexual orientation. ENDA plainly provides to all Americans necessary occupation protection from discrimination established on illogical prejudgment....

• Word Count: 1341
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

So the Defense of Marriage Act and the proposed Constitutional amendment seem put ideals into the constitution and naturalize them, something we the people originally decided would not be allowed. ... The courts rested their decisions on the circular argument that the couples equal protection rights were not violated because they were excluded by the traditional definition of marriage, which in turn denied them any rights under that definition. ... However, in that case, the Court stated "The Equal Protection Clause requires the consideration of whether the classifications drawn by any statute...

• Word Count: 2327
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

A number of these changes have been in the areas of: Property, Medical Rights, Superannuation Rights and Taxation legislation, there was also attempt of Gay Marriage in ACT. ... The De-Facto Relationships Act 1984 (NSW) was amended and renamed The Property (Relationships) Act 1984 (NSW). The newly amended act dud recognise same sex relations as de-facto relationships through the amendment in Section 4. ... " This now more open piece of legislation provided a range of new protections for same sec couples in Property Divisions, Inheritance, Decision making powers in terminal illness and ar...

• Word Count: 1344
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Vermont Supreme Court attempted to answer this question response written by Jeffrey Amestoy stated the issue of same sex civil unions as "May the State of Vermont exclude same sex couples from the benefits and protections that its laws provide to opposite sex married couples? ... Section seven stated "The state has a strong interest in promoting stable and lasting families, including families based upon same sex couples. " In the following section the legislators said, "without the legal protections, benefits and responsibilities associated with civil marriage, same sex couples suffer nume...

• Word Count: 2060
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In their Constitution, Article I, Section 5, reads: "No persons shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, not be denied the enjoyment of the person's civil rights or be discriminated against in the exercise thereof because of race, religion, sex or ancestry." ... Gay men and women are citizens, entitled, like everyone else, to equal protection. ... There is no logical reason that society should reject the act of same-sex marriages because it is the right of gay and lesbian couples legally, socially, and econ...

• Word Count: 1321
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Does the equal protection clause in the fourteenth amendment guarantee same-sex couples the right to marry? If same-sex marriage were to be federally legalized would the sturdy backbone of our culture be broken? Is it not morally wrong to deny the citizens of the United States of America the basic h...

• Word Count: 2296
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Judicial review is the power of the court to rend a legislative act null and void on grounds on unconstitutionality (Ranney, 2001)and was granted in the case Marbury v. ... It is alleged that the statute violates the Fourteenth Amendment and its Equal Protection Clause. ...

• Word Count: 930
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

As a result of this, the Republican Congress drafted into its "Contract with America- a small but noteworthy provision entitled "The Defense of Marriage Act-. ... The Defense of Marriage Act is just a scapegoat for rightwing conservatives to justify their religious and moral beliefs, and to try and inflict their ideals upon Americans. ... First of all, this unconstitutional bill is referred to as, "The Defense of Marriage Act."" ... This Act is a thoughtless solution to solve a non-existing problem. ... Identifying this Act as a "Defense of Marriage- is saying that homosexuals are attacking he...

• Word Count: 2230
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

United states, the 3rd section of the DOMA (defense of marriage act) was unjustly removed, depriving the real meaning of marriage away from people. Many claimed the DOMA was meant to exploit and shame the views of homosexuals, however it was meant to defend the traditional meaning of marriage, thus the name of the act. ... The 14th amendment says: No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person with...

• Word Count: 1757
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

(Sinha, Gunjan http://www.popsci.com/) You are unable to think or act normally, as Plato said: "Love is a grave mental disease." ... The chemicals secreted to make mating a more pleasurable experience acts as a basic means to reinforce for developing a monogamous relationship with another person and continuing the act of intercourse. ... People of similar natures would band together to share various skills, protection, food, and other such thing to enhance the possibility of living through another day. ...

• Word Count: 1621
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

SAME SEX MARRIAGES For many years a battle has been undergoing over whether equal rights and protection against discrimination should be extended to homosexuals which was recently expanded into the area of marriage. ... There is no need to explain why such an act should not be allowed under the Constitution of the United States. ...

• Word Count: 980
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

It violated the Hawaiian Constitution's equal protection guarantees (Article I, Section 5) against gender discrimination. ... In the "constitutional sense, 'civil rights' encompass only those rights designated for special protection by the clear terms of the Constitution" (Lee). ...

• Word Count: 2159
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Disallowing gay couples the right to adopt is a form of discrimination and many act as if gay adoption is not righteous. ... Most states do not have a form of legal protection which prevents adoption agencies from preferring heterosexual couples over homosexual couples while in other states it is completely illegal. ...

• Word Count: 1732
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Same-sex marriage became a reality in the United States in 2004 in the wake of a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court that it was required under the equal protection clause of the state's Constitution (Dematteis/Reuters, 2012). ... It is the indication by how they spoke to one another and acted towards one another, however that thought was disrupted by the reality that everyone in town saw Idgie as a man. ...

• Word Count: 1404
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Whatever rights someone may enjoy on account of other identities, attributes, accomplishments, and positions cannot ensure either the free exercise of individual liberty or equal protection of the laws that a person is known to be lesbian or gay. ... Windsor, the Supreme Court declared the Section Three of "The Defense of Marriage Act," which states that "the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife,''[14]...

• Word Count: 1702
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Homosexuality- The Major Cause of Homosexuality The origins of human sexuality and homosexuality in particular have puzzled philosophers, theologians and ordinary people for thousands of years. In scatter cultures, homosexuals have been regarded as a normal part of life, however, same sex attraction...

• Word Count: 2425
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

A paper like this one and the accompanying presentation, are very important because they serve to inform and raise awareness of a population that has perhaps been neglected in other courses: gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) adolescents. Sexual orientation, biological sex, gender identity, and sex...

• Word Count: 4517
• Approx Pages: 18
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate