Victory for the Gay Community

Gay marriage has now been legalized in Conneticut, which, for many gays living in Conneticut, is a tremendous feat. Personally, I think that gay marriage is something that should be granted indefinitely everywhere, because based on what we have been talking about in class, everyone has a right to, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." If this is supposedly true, don't gays have the right to be happy? And to have liberty? My paper for the Constitution is about how the ideals of the Declaration of Independence were not fulfilled, and this is yet another example of how they weren't. Who knows if gays even existed in 1776, but right now it is a prevalent issue that deserves attention. In 1996, the Marriage Defense Act was passed, and it ruled that marriage was limited to a man and woman union for the purpose of federal law. This excluded gays entirely, obviously, and it angered them deeply. However, the act does not require states to abide by their rules, they can make their own on gay marriage if they choose. California declared banning gay marriage unconstitutional, making it legal. Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire have laws to acknowledge the relationship between gays and they have the rights that opposite sex marriages possess, but they are not called marriages. There are still twenty six states that do not allow gay marriage, and to me, this is really surprising. The Constitution is about equality, and this is not represented in the ban on gay marriage. It's actually quite disappointing, because America has the government that every foreign country looks up to, and for gay rights to be unattainable in some states is not a true reflection on what our country prides itself on.

Gay marriage in Conneticut Article

Gay marriage rights information