Gay marriage - Summaries III

ESL 5301-001 Gay Marriage
Summaries III 

1. Summary - Gay Rights May Come at the Cost of Religious Freedom
 
Anti-discrimination statutes are coming into conflict with laws designed to preserve freedom of conscience, especially in the private sector.

According to Emma Green article in The Atlantic on July 27, 2015 about the cost of gay rights, the decision of EEOC to consider sexual orientation as an inherent sex-based issue makes it illegal for organizations and public service providers to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

According to the author, the Supreme Court decision to make same-sex marriages legal has divided the country into two parties, each having their own discrimination claims, same-sex couples on one side and conservative religious Americans on the other side.

The situation is complicated as giving more rights to either sides will be considered discrimination against the other one and vice versa.

There are efforts to bring the two sides together or at least reduce the gap between them, but it is extremely difficult to predict how to resolve such a situation.

The case also has a political dimension, as both the Democrats and Republicans have opposing views; the Democrats are demanding new legislation to protect same-sex couples; however, the Republicans want to make sure new laws give exceptions on religious basis. (Muhammad)

Green, E. (2015, July 27). Gay Rights May Come at the Cost of Religious Freedom. The Atlantic. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/legal-rights-lgbt-discrimination-religious-freedom-claims/399278/

2. Summary 3

After gay marriage became legalized, the author posted an article with respect to the mutual impact between gay marriage and the healthcare market, which at some point indicates the societal acceptance of same-sex marriage in the United States. According to the article, the Gallup result showed that more than half of Americans supported gay marriage legalization and same-sex couples should share the same rights as others. This increased support attracted the attention from the healthcare market, making more and more brands add LGBTs into their target segment. Moreover, since the mainstream media became increasingly opened to LGBT, its power subconsciously infected the non-LGBTs such as Millennials. In the article, a survey of Pew indicated that Millennials had highest acceptance toward LGBT among any other generations. “The definitions of relationships, parents, and families are changing,” as the author mentioned. He thought that the healthcare market was just a beginning; many other services such as travel and financial services would provide convenience to LGBTs. As what the author believed, brand influence and societal acceptance of LGBTs promoted each other mutually, which would support the evolution of LGBT equality eventually. (Jieying.Wu)

Reference:

Bagnall, A. (2015, August 15). Marketing Healthcare to LGBTs in the Age of Marriage Equality. DTC News. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from:
http://www.dtcperspectives.com/marketing-healthcare-to-lgbts-in-the-age-of-marriage-equality/

3. Summary-Reference #3

An article by Mr. Swift, in gallup.com, dated May 30th 2014, discusses the results of a poll conducted by ‘Gallup’ among Americans regarding the rights of same-sex couples to adopt a child. Interestingly, the results of the poll suggest that 63% of Americans are in favor of adoption by same-sex couples and this number surpasses the percentage of Americans in support of same-sex marriages (53%). The article also describes the opinion of Mr. Gates, a public policy expert in UCLA School of law, regarding the poll results. According to Mr. Gates, the poll results are not unusual as adults in the U.S. are generally supportive of same-sex adoption compared to same-sex marriage. In addition to estimating the overall consensus among the American population regarding the same-sex parenting, the poll categorized the results based on political orientation of the people and also based on age-group of the people. These classifications reveal that major support for the adoption rights were from Democrats (80%) followed by independents (61%) and Republicans (51%). Under the age-group categorization, the results show that the support for the adoption of a child by homosexuals declines with increasing age-group. The highest support was shown by people in the age-group of 18-29 (77%) and the lowest support was observed among people in the age-group 65 + (51%). (Sriramvignesh)

Reference

Swift, A. (2014, May 30th). Most Americans Say Same-Sex Couples Entitled to Adopt.
Gallup.com. Retrieved on September 11, 2015 from http://www.gallup.com/poll/170801/americans-say-sex-couples-entitled-adopt.aspx

4. Summary 03

In the article titled “Christian bakers gotta bake, even for gays”, Emma Green, the managing editor of The Atlantic, clarified some legally interesting points regarding the failure of the cake bakers in Colorado to claim their rights to refuse providing service for same-sex couples. According to the author, for a long time, cake bakers had become “the most formidable legal opponent of gay marriage” (Green, 2015) but they have mostly been unsuccessful. The Colorado Court of Appeals did not accept their argument that cake-baking is a form of art and free speech, and forced the bakers to comply with the state’s public-accommodations law. Green also highlighted the fact that unlike the majority of Southern states, Colorado does not have any law to provide exemptions for religious groups to practice their religions while it does have laws forbidding LGBT discrimination. (Nam)

Reference:

Green, E. (2015, August 13). Christian bakers gotta bake, even for gays. The Atlantic. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/in-colorado-christian-bakers-have-bake-even-for-gays/401249/

5. Summary #3

In this article, the scenario is very clear for many gay couples in these days: First arrives love and then marriage. At this point, gay couples do not have anything different from heterosexual couples. However, for this last, the traditional next step available is to conform a family. At this point the road comes to an end for same-sex couples.

The important legal fact of two months ago occasioned a considerable increase in the list of same-sex couples seeking to adopt a child. According to the author, many couples feel that they are mentally, emotionally and financially prepared to have children. The current political and social environment promotes the discussion about the next step, so gay couples feel that the moment to fight for this next goal is now.

The legal faculty of adopting a child was permitted many times before the approval of same-sex marriage, Though only one person in the couple’ was allowed to assume the rights related with the child. For the Law, the other person is considered an outsider.

This legal fact implies important sentimental consequences, because the parent who is not legal is not allowed to participate in educational decisions or medical consent, or assume several tasks and inherent responsibilities of the parental role. For this reason, the fight today is not related to putting a child inside a gay family, but is related to recognizing the same role as parent inside the family. (Elliot)

Almond, M. (2015, August 16) Adoption rights: The next frontier for gay Alabama couples two months after marriage ruling. Al.com. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/08/adoption_emerges_as_next_front.html

6. Summary 3

In the recent article by Reuters, the author highlights that the refusal of Kentucky's Clerk, Ms. Davis, to issue marriage licenses to gay couples has become a critical issue in the United States. There are many people who are against the U.S. Supreme Court’s order of issuing licenses to gay couples and who support Ms. Davis because of certain religious beliefs. These supporters argue that all the deputies who provide marriage licenses without her permission should be fired from their jobs. It has been reported that Ms. Davis would return to her job at the same position at which she was working earlier. However, the U.S. District Judge, Mr. Bunning, has ordered Ms. Davis not to interfere with the other deputy clerks issuing marriage licenses, or else she might have to face further consequences. The author mentions at the end of the article that in late June, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 50 states, but at that time also, many of the judges and county clerks were opposing it on the basis of religious grounds. (Harnoor)

Reference

Bittenbender, S. (2015, September 9). Defiant Kentucky clerk's backers: fire aides over gay marriage licenses. Reuters. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-usa-gaymarriage-kentucky-idUSKCN0R91RC20150909

7. Summary3

Kim Davis walked free Tuesday after five nights in jail. The author quoted Kim Davis as saying, “I just want to give God the glory, His people have rallied, and you are a strong people. Just keep on pressing. Don’t let down. Because he is here.” In Kentucky, there are several county staff workers who have refused to give the marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But only Rowan County's Kim Davis was thrown in jail.

There are nine states that stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether; this becomes the issue of the nation.

The author quoted Probate Judge Nick Williams, In Washington County, which also refused to issue marriage licenses as saying, “I completely disagree with the authority the Supreme Court has, and I'm quite sure they broke several constitutional amendments in that ruling."

In Casey County, the clerk, Casey Davis, also isn't sending any marriage licenses at all; this action is similar to Kim Davis’s before she was jailed. According to the author, Casey Davis said, "I started out with nothing, and I'm surely gonna leave with nothing, so that's not a threat to me." He also told NBC News that he has received phone threats in response to his refusal to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples. (Songhe)

Reference:

Gutierrez, G. (2015. Sep, 9). Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis isn't Kentucky's only gay marriage holdout. Retrieved on Sep. 10, 2015 from: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/dunkin/140802

8. Summary-3

The article provides a good statistical analysis of opinion on the gay marriages based on different age groups of American people. Based on the article it is interesting to note that, the public opinion has changed dramatically over the past. Statistics show that in the year 1996 68% of Americans were opposing gay marriage, while only 27% were supporting it. In the year 2001, 59% were opposing it and 38% were supporting it. This is a remarkable change in percentage of opinion in a short span of 4 years. In 2008 the percentage of people who are opposing went down to 56% and the support went up to 40%. In the year 2015 the situation totally changed. The percentage of people who are opposing went down to 40% and the percentage of people supporting went up to 60%. So during the span of 20 years the opinion of American people on gay marriage has changed dramatically. According to the author the reason for such drastic change in opinion about same sex marriage is due to the generational change. Most of the young people agree to the concept of same sex marriage compared to the older generation of Americans. To support his argument, the author points out that 73% of the millennial Americans (age group 18-34) support same sex marriage compared to the 27% of older people who oppose it. He also compares the change in opinion of same sex marriages with interracial marriages. Earlier in 1959 only 4% supported interracial marriages but in the year 2003 87% of the Americans supported interracial marriages. The author states that generational change was the main reason for such change in opinion. Author also points out that, for a positive change in opinion of racial and gender equality, it took several generations compared to that of the opinion of same sex marriage. He points out that 70% of 18 year old Americans alone support same sex marriages and support drops gradually with age and it reaches to a low 30% among 90 year age groups. So the younger generation of Americans is greatly influencing the overall statistics. The reason for such change in view of younger generation of Americans is because of the direct involvement of the popular culture, attitude towards religion, and friendship with gay people. (Sankar)

Schulzke, E. ( 2015, June30). Behind the rapid shift in public opinion on same-sex marriage. National Direct News. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from
http://national.deseretnews.com/article/5013/behind-the-rapid-shift-in-public-opinion-on-same-sex-marriage.html

9. Summary 3:

In this article, the deputies at Rowan County clerk’s office started giving both gay and straight couples marriage licenses, on Friday. The Kentucky Attorneys General and counsel for Rowan County have said that: “the marriage licenses are valid.”

Davis met with two Republication Presidential candidates, Mike Huckabee from Arkansas and Ted Cruz from Texas.

Huckabee introduced Davis at an event. She walked in with her attorney and husband. Huckabee said that if volunteers were needed to go to jail, he would. When she met Huckabee, he said to the judge responsible for her sentence that he was not going to spend his future living under people who they can take away people’s freedom and conscience. (Samah)

Hanna, J. & Payne, E. & and Shoichet, C. E. (2015, September 8). Kim Davis released, but judge bars her from withholding marriage licenses. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/politics/kim-davis-same-sex-marriage-kentucky/index.html

10. Summary

A survey mentioned by the author said that 26% of Americans under 40 agreed that clergy members and religious institutions should be enforced by law to perform same-sex weddings. According to the author, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., had an opinion about this survey that it was unconstitutional because Americans should have religious liberty. The author said that Pope Francis is backing County clerk Kim Davis; the pope blamed homosexual marriages as “destroying God's plan” in 2013 when he wasn’t yet the pope. A priest, Father Richard Perozich is quoted that the government was evil and Ms. David was fighting with Christ. The author mentioned Father John Trigilio Jr., who wrote that the clerk Ms. David was right because he was a clerk since the constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court had legalized many things wrongly: legalizing abortion in 1973, legalizing slavery in 1875, supporting racial discrimination in 1896; so they were wrong up to now and the clerk should not be imprisoned or fired but should have other choices: resigning, being voted to quit or being in the exception by government; and, her right came from God not the government. He also was quoted as saying that marriage should be agreed by both state and church and the church also showed respect to homosexual people but marriage was disordering; it is opposed to the natural law. (Ariyawat)

Abbott, M.C. (2015, September 7). Catholic bishop troubled by gay marriage survey results; Priests (and pope?) support Kim Davis. renewamerica. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/150907